Star Wars: The Chosen One
by Awinterchill
Summary: In the aftermath of the formation of the empire, Anakin Skywalker fled the destruction of the Jedi order and the loss of his wife. 15 years later his solitude is interrupted by a girl claiming to be the daughter of Obi Wan Kenobi. Will he find the strength in him to stand and fight against the empire or will his darker side control his destiny? Multi-Arch AU.
1. Beginnings: Crashing In

**This is amazing! I just have been so into the Star Wars universe lately, I have always been a gigantic Star Wars fan but this year has been the year of Star Wars! I have been wanting to write a Star Wars story but I have been reluctant due to my GSI story having serious delays are storying issues. I decided to jump in on this idea because It has been flowing easily!**

 **I am a Star Wars prequels fan. I love the Clone Wars TV series, it has been hard for me to watch because it makes me love Anakin so much. I decided to change the ending to Star Wars 3 and bring in some of my favorite EU characters.**

 **Enjoy and please leave a review!**

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 **Chapter 1: Crashing In**

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 _"I believe he is the chosen one."_

Abafar was the worst planet he could have picked for his exile, it was too much like Tatooine except it used to be a mining world. Since it was once controlled by the separatists it seemed like a good place to lay low and be forgotten. Not that Palpatine would ever forget him nor how close he had been to turning him. He had not had another choice when he crashed onto the planet with nothing. He soon learned how to survive on the almost lifeless rock and he realized he had lost the troops that had been tailing him, he was safe and far from the reach of anyone in the empire. He was so well hidden here that he knew his friends wouldn't find him either, if they were still alive, so he had never had any hopes of them finding him. Some days he wished he had gone into exile on Naboo because of the dreariness of this place, but that place was too close to the center of the empire and too obvious of a place that Palpatine would look for him there for sure.

He knew Palpatine was still looking after fifteen years, and he wondered why he still held onto life after all this time. It would be dangerous if Palpatine ever did find him, not for himself but for the rest of the world. He owed no one anything had done his part by getting a few fellow Jedi out of the temple and running away with his life still in tact. He realized soon after that Palpatine had killed Padme, his grief had been what had driven him to exile. He couldn't face the world without her, and he couldn't face what he had almost become. He had no clue what had happened to the rest of his friends. The force had been his guide to this place and it had been the thing to keep him from taking his own life years before. For some reason it wasn't done with him even after what he had done.

 _"You are the chosen one."_

Many nights he dreamed of them, the ones whom he cared about. He wondered if Obi-Wan had escaped his own clones, and where Ahsoka was after all this time. After this many years his wondering was winding down, he had put those people out of his memories and sought to cleanse his soul of all attachments. That was one Jedi principle that he had never been good at. That and meditation. It was ironic how meditation had become his sanity on this planet. He had spent so much time within the great atmosphere of his meditation, it helped him clear his mind of the burdens and the grief. Only after the Jedi order was destroyed did he really understand why the Jedi existed the way they were.

Meditation helped him to have an ear to the ground on this planet, to keep an eye on who was coming and going. There had been ripples in the force lately, something out there was changing but after so long a time he wondered if he would be a part of it. Perhaps his destiny was here, not really to end the Sith. Perhaps everyone had been wrong about him, after what he had done he was almost certain of it. Out there above him was a huge galaxy in turmoil and he did not know if he would ever be a part of freeing it and no one would know how long he had survived.

 _"He is the chosen one!"_

Was he really the chosen one? His own experiences in the clone wars seemed to scream that loud to him. So many in the order believed it, but now here he was so far detached from the world around him. Out there somewhere the Sith had won.

* * *

A crash rocked the ship harder this time as the alarms rang out telling them that their enemies had broken through their main shields and were probably going to board soon. This was not the situation they had expected when they set out a day before for the outer rim. They were all but sure that the empire would be no where near here. People were madly rushing around trying to fix what they could while she knew their fighters were almost all gone. This mission had been futile from the beginning, there were too many star destroyers around the planet that was her target. She wondered how they had known the rebels were coming here, if they had known at all. Perhaps they were chasing the same blind leads she was, the idea that the hero still lived and the best place to hide was the outer rim.

If she had know the danger she wouldn't have changed a thing. This planet was her last hope and the last hope of so many that she cared about. She couldn't help herself, despite her masters warnings to stop her quest she felt the changing ripples of the force and they drove her to this place. Even now she felt a strong sense that everything around her was calling to her and telling her that she was on the right track. The man she was looking for had to be on the planet below, she felt it.

"Commander Kenobi," her ships pilot yelled to her, "We aren't going to make it to the planet's surface at this rate. We are sustaining too much damage." She wished they had taken a faster ship. The group with her were mostly old clone troopers who had served with her father, they had wanted to accompany her. She was glad to have them along, but she might have gotten to the planets surface better alone.

"This mission is vital to the alliance," she spoke with authority, "you will continue your trajectory, get me to that planet!" Her master would be furious with her when he found out about this, but she really didn't have a choice. She was the one who always told her to listen to what the force was telling her and now it was screaming louder than ever. She believed it what it was telling her, their only hope was on that planet below. The chosen one had to be here.

"Upper shields are dropping," one of the other men in the cabin yelled, "we're not fast enough to make it down there. We don't have a lot of tricks left in this machine." She looked around at the people she had brought with her, they had believed in her mission enough to come without a second thought. They had believed in her, that she was right about everything. True her force powers had been elevated due to the fact that both her parents were Jedi, but sometimes she thought people looked at her with too much expectation. She just wanted to be the best that she could be and she wanted to help bring an end to the suffering around her. Her master constantly told her to be careful about choosing her battles but she was too headstrong and rushed into things before thinking.

"We have to get her out of here," she heard Captain Cody speak now bringing her out of her thoughts, "Are there any more fighters aboard this ship?" She knew what he was going to say, and she didn't want to hear it.

"I am not leaving!" she protested thinking of the lives that would die up here and they would fight less if they knew she was safe. They had all resigned to their fate long before, to die to protect her on this mission but it hurt her to think about that. She didn't have the luxury of worrying about it, she did have a mission to fulfill. The lives of many in the galaxy were worth the sacrifice of a few, but knowing the truth didn't make any of it easy.

"We don't have another choice," Cody argued with her, "your survival is more important than ours, there aren't that many Jedi left! If the empire catches and kills you that's one more we'll lose. You have to get down there, this mission is important. You must find him." She heard his words and saw how frantic he was, tears sprung to her eyes at what she had gotten them into. If she didn't find her target on that planet all this would be for nothing. The force around her reminded her that she was on the right track. He was here, there was no denying it.

"I understand," she responded using her Jedi training to breath in and out letting go of what she saw around her. There was no death for her men, only the force.

"Then go!" Cody spoke as another blast rocked the ship, "NOW!" She hesitated for a moment as she saw R6 preparing to follow her. She looked around at the bravery she saw on the faces of those around her.

"May the force be with you," she spoke gravely and they nodded.

* * *

She hadn't expected to be pursued this far into the atmosphere because she had used all the tricks she knew to get to the surface as fast as possible, it was like the commander above was reading her trajectory as she worked fast to fight off the tie fighters that were tailing her. There were three of them but she was trained to handle these situations, most of the people in the rebellion were. She pushed her fighter to it's speed limits while dodging their shots. She began to consider her options and the surroundings of the planet below the.

"R6 fly us low!" she shouted as she worked on the next stage of her plan. The tie fighters took the bait. "Cut the main engine power." She said as her ship suddenly flew behind the fighters. She fired shots taking them down quickly. She smiled with glee, she was her mothers daughter. From what she had heard from her master, her father had hated flying.

Her moment of glee was ended quickly when a shot hit her ship and she saw two more fighters on her scanner, and she was reminded of why her father hated flying. She saw a canyon up ahead and knew that it was going to be dangerous but it was her only chance. She propelled the ship forward ignoring the protests of her droid. She didn't have time to come up with another option, her window of opportunity was closing.

"Calm down R6," she spoke reassuring him, "I have an idea." She quickly maneuvered through the canyon walls and checked her engines, she wouldn't be in the air much longer at this rate. She stretched out with the force to see what was ahead and made her ship respond accordingly. She was very happy that she had the force as her ally during fights like this one. Flying was unpredictable without it. One of the fighters hit a canyon wall exactly as she had planned, she contained herself focusing on the task at hand.. The other was still firing at her. She instinctively responded flipping her ship to account for the shots. Sometimes she wished she was a better pilot, this was not as easy for her as it would have been for her master.

"Keep us on track R6," she shouted as she reached out with the force grasping at the fighter and causing it to shift off it's course, she felt a little drained from the effort it took. It crashed as a shot hit her ship once again. She realized she was moments away from crashing herself, her ship had sustained damage from the shots it had taken and she was moving to fast in dangerous terrain. "R6 Eject, Eject!" She yelled pulling her eject lever and flipping out of the ship right as it crashed.

She landed on the ground hard and saved her ankle from a near twist with the force. That would have messed up her journey real fast. Her droid quickly rolled up to her, he was beeping and wailing about something. Probably his near destruction because of her reckless piloting. She didn't have time to listen carefully to what he was saying, she was glad to have one friend with her though. This whole mission would have been better if Cody had made it down with her, he knew how her target looked. She was going in with only the force to aid her now and she knew that was no small thing.

"Well we will have to find another way off this planet," she responded to R6 finally looking to the end of the canyon, it was a hill out and not a hard climb which she was thankful for. She knew if she didn't have the force she would die of fright climbing. She had never liked being in a precarious situation with heights and her own strength being the only thing keeping her from faling. "We'd best press on." They walked on as the droid was lecturing her on ship safety again, R6 really was a worrier. She wondered what in his programming made him so manic about things that she did, like crashing her fighter on a barren desert planet.

"I just hope our crash throws the empire off the fact that we're alive. I really don't want them pursuing us," she replied as they reached the top of the canyon to be greeted with miles of desert. There was no cover, it wasn't going to be easy to be on the defensive if the empire did find them and she would much rather take a strong stance on offense. R6 beeped about what they were going to do next and a few other things about the rebel alliance. She could never catch everything he was saying but she knew he called her crazy.

"I am not crazy," she said, "we can not win this war without him, we've proven that again and again. The emperor is one step ahead of us and a Sith Lord, we need to bring in the one person who can destroy Sith Lords. Master Yoda clearly stated that we needed to find him, we have the recording. I've watched it a hundred times listening for any clue of where to look. I am finally on the right path, I can feel it." R6 beeped again about her master and her father.

"I don't care what my master thinks," she replied, "if she wants to continue the search for my father she can, but I think he would want us to pursue this course of action. We don't even know if he is still alive, he would have made contact. And he made it clear before he believed his padawan was indeed the chosen one. I've dreamed my whole life of meeting him! If my master can't convince me to give this up then you certainly can't." R6 was tired of arguing with her, and asked about what she was going to do next. He was such a feisty droid sometimes. Her mother had painted the droid with purples after her lightsaber color.

She missed her mother, thoughts of her led back to the mission to find her father. He had gone after his old padawan many years before and her mother had followed only three years later because she couldn't handle not knowing where he was or what had happened to him. No one knew where they were anymore, they had lost track of them five years back. Her master had taught her how to let go of her emotions on the matter but there were times that it was difficult. She had barely known her father and a part of her resented him for running away when she needed him most. He should have been the one to train her and to teach her how to manage her growing force powers. Of course he didn't know that she had grown as fast as she had.

"We're going to continue with our mission," she spoke kneeling on the ground, placing her hands on the ground and reaching out with the force. She had learned this trick from one of the older Jedi she knew and she waited patiently until she had a direction.

"There's a settlement this way," she said turning to the west, "that's our best chance of surviving here. Let's go." She was in a hurry, she knew that she wouldn't last long down here without water and she needed to get word to her master before she sent someone to look for her in the more dangerous parts of the empire.

* * *

Darth Taris watched as her scouts headed down to the planet below, she had captured a few of the rebel survivors from the main ship but they seemed to be ready to die for their cause. Interrogating them wasn't going to be an easy road and she didn't have time to get to every one of them. She needed to know why the rebels were out here in such a deserted area, they surely weren't thinking of restarting the mining operation that had once gone on below. The only thing she could think of was that they had sent out a fighter near the end of the battle to the surface of the planet below. She was curious enough about the reason the rebels were here to pursue it more. Her captains seemed to think they could leave the planet now that the rebel ship had been destroyed, he was always shortsighted about these matters.

"Do we have any intel on why they were out here?" Taris asked as she turned to her ships admiral, Jensan. She knew he resented her age and how the emperor trusted her, but that couldn't be helped until he saw what she was capable of. His initial wave of scouts had found the fighter crashed and believed the pilot had died but she knew better than that.

"The prisoners haven't talked," Jensan responded, "it was a good thing we were in the area when the ship came, even if we were just passing through. Whatever they are hiding it seems that it was important and these men are ready to die for it." Taris looked distant as she turned back to the planet below wondering about an old tale the emperor had told her during her training. She sensed something in the force, no matter how her fleet felt about it she knew that they had to remain here until she figured out what was on the barren rock below them, it could turn the tide of the war.

"They had a Jedi with them," Taris spoke, she had felt the young girls presence before she had shielded herself. "Find out which one, I believe she was what they sent to the planet, there is something out there." She had a feeling that this rebel cell had acted alone and she had a hunch that she knew what they were after on the planet's surface. She trusted her instincts, they were usually right.

"Get me to the surface," Taris said now with a smirk, that Jedi wasn't going to make it out of this situation alive. "And call the inquisitors, I want to make sure we do this right after loosing Tachi on Mustafar." That had been a great loss, Siri Tachi was one of those Jedi who seemed to appear and disappear at will; Taris had always had trouble keeping up with the movements of that particular Jedi. She could hardly wait to report the destruction of this rebel girl.

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 **Short chapter. I am known to start stories with short chapters then suddenly switch to larger chapters. Thank you for reading, I can't wait till you see what's coming next.**

 **Please leave me a quick review! I appreciate it!**

 **Winter Chill**


	2. Beginnings: Ghosts

**Chapter 2 - Ghosts**

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Ahsoka wasn't expecting to wake up to a disturbance in the force, a panic rose in her as she sat up fast and glanced around the room. Her young old padawan had gone missing the day before and officers around the base had ordered her to get some rest due to the fact that she had spent 18 hours trying to figure out where the girl had gone. She would rather be searching for Kenobi's daughter right now but they had no leads. They had no idea where she would go. Obi-Wan and Siri had trusted Ahsoka to take care of the girl and now here she was worried about her safety.

She decided now wasn't the time to stay sleeping, she needed to get up and get back to figuring out what happened to her padawan. The child was way to headstrong for her own good and at 14 years old she thought she was smart enough to handle herself in any situation but she still had much to learn. Her force abilities were advanced and things came easy to her but she had always been the kind to act first and think later. She was nothing like Obi-Wan, but Ahsoka didn't think she would be. The girl was around Siri for much longer and from what she had heard, Siri had been just like her daughter when she was young. Obi-Wan had left when his daughter was three years old, her mother had followed when the girl was old enough to not need her. They were off somewhere, no one knew and their daughter was here.

Ri-En, that was the name Obi-Wan had chosen. It held a special meaning on the planet he was born on, it meant "hope." For Ri-En had been born was the day they had lost hope, it was the day they believed Anakin had died. She was an adorable child, with the auburn hair of her father and the crystal blue eyes of her mother. She looked more like Obi-Wan but her personality was very much like Siri's.

The girl wasn't certain they could defeat the Emperor without help from the chosen one, but they didn't have a choice. Ahsoka had repeatedly told her that he was dead. Obi Wan and Ahsoka had felt it when he had left into the force, it had been a moment that had broken her and it took a long time for her to have any shred of hope again. She had felt his bond for months after he had vanished and when it had gone with him she knew he was gone. She knew without a doubt that Anakin was the chosen one due to their time on Mortis, but the emperor had known too and he had made sure he didn't fulfill his destiny.

Her padawan possessed so much hope, just like her name, and belief that if Anakin was the chosen one that he had not left them without fulfilling his destiny. She ran with her hope and her beliefs and because of them she had helped so many people in the alliance to stay strong when things go dark. Ri-En was so full of life, her joy was infectious to those around her. Now she was out there somewhere with some of the alliances best men, throwing herself into danger based on a hunch. How long had she planned this? A better question was, how had Ahsoka not known? The girl was brimming to the core with a believe that Anakin was alive, even though she had never met him. The stories that the men around the base told must have been what had done it in. She often asked Ahsoka if her parents had left to search for him. Ahsoka was reluctant to tell her that her assumption was correct, because she wished that Obi-Wan and Siri had stayed here with the rebellion.

Sighing Ahsoka walked out of the room toward the main intelligence area. They didn't dare land anywhere due to how the empire kept driving them off planets. The last time was a close call, if she hadn't sensed it in the force she would have missed it. She would have to leave soon to find Ri-En and she dreaded leaving the fleet. Then an idea came to her, she didn't have to leave if she chose the right team. The room had a few operatives working and Commander Caliph, one of her good friends and one of the smartest men on the base.

"Any word?" Ahsoka asked, he knew what she was asking about instantly and his face grew grave. Ahsoka instantly feared the worst, trying to bury it with her Jedi training but it was hard to bury. She had hoped that with the training of a Jedi as strong as Ri-En and the discovery of a few more Jedi they could begin the order again. This time they could do it right from the beginning. The world would be a horrible place if the Jedi died out completely.

"We have word," he responded, "We received a transmission from the missing ship about an hour ago, we don't know what to think of it. I have a few operatives trying to make out more as we speak. You should hear it." He quickly brought up the file and turned it on before she could say she didn't want to hear it unless it was from her padawan.

 _"Wings base,"_ The voice of one of the clones, probably Cody relayed, _"We've found ourselves outgunned in the ... planet... Old Separatist min... we are sending commander Kenobi to the surface... Can't hold them... please send... she must keep going... Commander Kenobi is alive... I repeat... surface... please send..."_ The transmission cut there leaving Ahsoka worried about what might have happened down there. It was good to know Cody had sent her padawan away from the battle, but what planet was she on? And more importantly, would the empire follow her to it's surface. If they did could she hide well enough to convince them she was gone. The empire had inquisitors to hunt Jedi and with a force signature as strong as Ri-En's she would have to have her shields up hard to keep them out.

"Let me know the moment anything changes," Ahsoka commanded, she knew they were working hard to unravel the missing words, "and has the Ghost shown up from it's last mission?" She held the Ghost's team in high regard partially due to the Jedi team that was on it, if they did find a lead she would want them in on this mission. She had to recover Ri-En as soon as she could or Siri would never forgive her.

"Yes Commander," he responded, "they have, the landed an hour ago. Hera and Kanan are on the main cafeteria I believe."

* * *

"Hera," she had hoped that she would have peace when they landed in the base. Her team seemed tired enough but here was Ezra's voice shouting as loud as he ever was. She looked at Kanan who just shrugged as if he understood what she was thinking. Ezra had been more energetic than normal on the last mission, and he apparently was eager to get back to see Ri-En. The two younger Jedi got along well but Ri-En had been so focused on some mission she had that even when the ghost was docked with the alliance they didn't see much of her.

"Please stop running," Kanan said correcting Ezra's behavior. "You know the officers here do not like it when you run through the halls, nor when you shout at the top of your lungs. Many people in this base are still sleeping, as you should be." Hera smiled, Kanan had less patience at hours in the morning like this. He had wanted to sleep when they arrived but a ripple in the force had been weighing on him. He had trouble resting when things like this happened to him.

Hera smiled, she loved being the pilot of the ghost because it had led her to the team that she considered family. She had helped Kanan in some of his darkest time, being that he was just a padawan when his master was killed by order 66. Ezra had brought his Jedi life back to him by being the padawan he needed. Just seeing them together lifted her spirits, for a galaxy without Jedi would be one she didn't want to live in.

"Now why aren't you resting," Hera scolded, she had told the younger members of the team to rest while they got the chance, she knew they wouldn't be around here for very long. There was so much to do with more and more rebel cells joining their group.

"Because there are so many people running around," Ezra proclaimed with as much energy as ever, "Something big happened while we were gone! I asked around, it seems Ri-En took a group of her fathers old clone battalion out and hasn't come back! She's effectively missing!" Hear was not expecting that, Ri-En seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. This was completely uncharacteristic of her.

"Why would she do that" Kanan asked, he had wanted to avoid all the rebel troubles until they had rested a day but with Ahsokas padawan gone he had no doubt they would be sent to go after her. Ahsoka liked using the ghost crew for Jedi business due to the fact that they had two Jedi on their ship.

"No one seems to know," Ezra responded, "it's been classified already. Get that! She went out without orders on her own and her mission already gets classified!"

"That doesn't make sense," Hera said now thinking over what she knew about the young girl.

"Well you should get some rest regardless," Kanan scolded Ezra now, "It doesn't matter what is going on around here, when Hera orders you to do something you should do it." Kanan's scolding didn't knock Ezra down for a moment, he knew that this information was important weather the two older members of the ghost crew cared.

"But it's Ri-En," Ezra replied, "She's important as one of the few Jedi padawan's left. I just thought you guys should know."

"Yes they should know," they all truned now to see Ahsoka enter, she looked tired but it didn't change the air of dignity she held.

"Is Ri-En okay?" Ezra asked.

"I believe so," Ahsoka replied with a forces smile, Kanan could see she was worried despite the front she was putting up. "Her ship was attacked over whatever planet she went to." Ahsoka now took a seat across from Hera and Kanan, "Commander Cody sent her down to the surface of the planet to escape the attack. He sent us word that she was alive and to send someone to pick her up." Ezra noticed the missing piece of information immediately.

"Which planet did she go to?" Ezra replied, "and why would she just do that?"

"Have either of you felt the ripples in the force lately?" Ahsoka asked remembering how she had felt when she had woken up earlier.

"Yes," Kanan responded gravely, he hadn't been sure what to think of them. There was a disturbance then a rush of light and something had changed out in the galaxy. He wondered what they had to do with Ri-En. What was it that she was after? What had she woken up?

"I believe they were from whatever Ri-En encountered in her battle out there," Ahsoka replied, "I believe the emperor has a new Sith apprentice, and for some time I have been searching for information in this apprentice. Because of this I believe Ri-En is in more danger than she realizes."

"But where is she?" Ezra asked again and Ahsoka lowered her eyes in sadness.

"I don't have answers to that," Ahsoka responded, "The recording we have from Cody's message is missing that vital information. Our intelligence officers are working to unscramble it now but until then we're in the dark." Hera sighed, this wasn't a situation that the alliance needed right now. There were too many important things going on and the girl should have known better than to run off at this time.

"What was she after?" Kanan asked wondering about the most important piece of information.

"Ironically enough a ghost," Ahsoka replied with a sad smile that spoke more to Kanan about what was going on than Ezra.

"But surely?" Kanan asked.

"My master is dead," Ahsoka said quickly assuring him that what he thought was true, "I felt it when he left the force, it was a grave day for all of us. Ri-En has heard the stories of the clone wars her whole life. It's been hard for her to accept that he really did leave. Her logic makes sense."

"It makes sense if he was indeed the chosen one," Kanan responded.

"Who's the chosen one?" Ezra asked quickly, "What does that mean?" He did noticed the shared glances between Kanan and Ahsoka, they weren't going to answer his question just now.

"I am going after Ri-En," Ahsoka declared now her true purpose of talking to them about this. "I want to take the ghost, and a very small team. Just Hera and Kanan." Ezra didn't want to be left out of this one.

"I want to go with you!" he declared quickly, "this is Jedi business, I need to be there!"

"No," Ahsoka responded, "at this critical time I can not leave these people without some sort of Jedi protection. You can sense disturbances before they happen, that's something I do quite often around here. If there is a Sith Lord out there we need someone to warn these people. Your mission is here and it is important." He understood what she was saying but he still did not like it.

"When are we leaving?" Kanan asked, he was not expecting to have to go out this soon but if everything Ahsoka said was true then this mission was something that needed to happen. Ri-En Kenobi was quite the gifted Jedi and the alliance would need people like her in the near future.

"We leave in three hours," Ahsoka responded, that was the time that her people said it would take to unscramble the rest of the message. "Get some rest, you are going to need it."

* * *

It was early in the morning yet it was still hot out, it was always hot out on Abafar. He should be used to it by now but it was impossible after how long he had lived in Coruscant he was used to better planetary temperatures. He had woken up to a disturbance in the force and found himself unable to go back to sleep despite his desire to ignore it. He had sat out to meditate but the sun was beating down making it hard to focus, everything was making it hard to focus today. He walked back to his cave, it wasn't much cooler in here but the shade was still nice. The force was still sending him urges to get to the settlement, but he was getting a little tired of the force telling him what to do. Wait, meditate, wait, live, wait. So many one word orders.

He realized he could stubbornly remain here but he would never discover the reason for the shift in his meditations. Something was definitely happening around him and it made him curious despite his better judgment to leave well enough alone. He argued with the feeling a little more trying to find any reason to just stay here. He had all the food he needed from his last huts and his water supplies were where they needed to be. He didn't want anything to do with the outside world, whatever this feeling was he was sure it would prevent him from remaining in his self imposed exile much longer. If someone found him here and recognized him he would have to go on the run again. Yet the force pushed him even stronger, his stubbornness was fading. He should just check out what was happening before he really made up his mind.

Checking that his force shields were in place he grabbed his cloak and exited his abode. The settlement was nearby it wasn't to hard to visit and satisfy his curiosity, then he could return to his home and meditate till he died. It's not like he had anything better to do. Maybe while he was there he could pick up some more junk parts, building stuff always helped him. He turned and looked at his cave. There were already a ton of little machine that he made. It was useful to trade with the locals for things he needed. Survival here was easy when you had a skill like his.

He stepped outside again and looked at the barren landscape around him. He had almost forgotten the other colors that existed in the galaxy. Maybe if he was driven off this planet he could find a better place to live for the rest of his life. Just maybe.

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 **The plot continues. I decided that the Rebels characters were perfect for the story early on. If you have not seen Rebels I will always include small character details when they are in the chapter. Thank you to all who subscribed I would like reviews very soon!**

 **AwinterChill**


	3. Beginnings: The Stranger

**DinomyteHero - I am glad you like the story. Yes Luke and Leia do exist in this world, they will not show up where and how you expect but they will show up.**

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 ** **Chapter 3 - The Stranger****

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 _*14 Years Earlier*_

* * *

 _It was a dark night on when Obi-Wan had returned from the outer rim to the deepest parts of the Corellian systems, this hiding place wasn't going to last but at this point they didn't have much choice but to wait. He walked through the main entrance of their secluded home, he was greeted by Ahsoka who smiled upon his entrance. He had found her a few months before, together they had made alliance connections that would help them once their time here come to an end. Based on how he felt Siri through their force bond he realized that would be very soon._

 _"I didn't find anything Ahsoka," he said because he knew she was dying to ask what had he had turned up from the leads he was following. They had both felt Anakin's distress in the force a few months earlier and realized he was still alive. Even now they could feel his life force through the bonds they shared with him. Obi-Wan had spent much time searching for him but he couldn't stay out forever. Siri was due to have her baby any moment now and Obi-Wan didn't want to miss that moment._

 _"He must be on the run as much as we are," Ahsoka responded with sadness filling her. After the destruction of the Jedi temple she had spent much of her time searching for any remaining Jedi who had gotten out as well as helping what growing resistance she could. It had been 15 months since it all fell apart. 15 months since they had heard anything about Anakin._

 _Obi-Wan remembered his return to Courscant well, he and Yoda had worked to warn Jedi away from the temple and he had checked the security records and found that Anakin had escaped with a group of younglings. Yoda had warned him not to go after Anakin. He said that he felt Anakin had a role to play in what was to come but that it wasn't Obi-Wan who would bring Anakin to his destiny. That didn't stop him from trying. Wherever Anakin was he was so far out of their reach that any lead the had went cold the moment they started pursuing it. They wondered if he could feel them searching or was it something else that drove him away from them. What Ahsoka said could be true, he could be on the run, his reputation as the chosen one would put him as a higher profile target than any of them._

 _"How is Siri?" he asked now wanting to put thoughts of his failure out of his mind. Siri needed him by her side now. A couple weeks after escaping Courscant Obi-Wan had found Siri on Ryloth hiding among the Twileks who were happy to shelter her. They had fought together and when their feelings for each other resurfaced they decided to act on them. The Jedi order was gone and they relied on one another, but they always careful to remember their Jedi training for they never knew if tomorrow they would loose each other._

 _"She's holding up well," Ahsoka responded. She was still very young and had taken the task of staying with Siri on this last trip. Obi-Wan could have used both of them but the situation couldn't be helped. Just then Siri cried out and Obi-Wan wasted no time rushing to the room the shared on this planet._

 _"No, no, no!" Siri spoke fast as she saw Obi-Wan entered, she was really good at handling any sort of pain and this was abnormal for her._

 _"I am here," Obi-Wan said sitting down on the bed next to here, "I'm back." She smiled but he noticed her face was covered in sweat._

 _"Our baby," Siri got out between deep breaths, "I tried to hold this back for you to return. The baby is coming!" He had gotten back just in time, he turned as he heard Ahsoka entering. They had to do this here without any doctors on hand but they had always been ready for that. The empire ordered all children tested for force sensitivity at birth, it was dangerous to go there regardless of their current status with the empire. He was a little frightened by the idea of delivering their child without help._

 _"I've got everything ready," Ahsoka said quickly, "just stay calm, we will get through this!"_

 _ _"I know," Siri responded. She knew that the three of them had gotten through quite a lot already. After the baby was born they were going to join up with the alliance. Obi-Wan still hadn't given up on finding Anakin but Siri was ready to. They couldn't spend their whole lives searching for one Jedi, they would have to move on sometime. This baby represented hope that when they did move on they had a future to work toward.__

* * *

Present

* * *

Ri-En Kenobi entered the settlement warily, she was absolutely certain that she looked out of place with her darker robes and the way she carried herself. Everyone here wore sand color clothing, she guessed that it helped them blend in, maybe there was some sort of predator on the loose in the desert. She certainly didn't want to meet one. She pulled her hood over her head and listened to the sounds around her. The buildings were unremarkable, made of the stones she saw in the desert, there were no trees around so she should have expected that. She had never been to a desert planet before, though she had heard of several, this one was interesting.

There were signs all around the town pointing to various shops, they were in the common tongue which was good.. She saw a shipyard with some junk heaps that probably wouldn't make it to the next planet. The people were moving in and out of buildings as if they didn't want to be in the sun very long, the population was sparse and she realized that the people here kept glancing at her. Maybe she could pass herself off as a native of Pons Ora, the largest settlement on the planet.

"I really hope we find what we're looking for soon," she told R6 as they continued through the small town. She saw a water pump near the edge and walked to it. After drinking some water she was determined to get a working ship to make her search easier. She had a small pack with her that had some money, maybe she could get something just to move about the planet. Once she found her target he could help her get it operational for interplanetary travel. She didn't remember much of her father but she remembered the stories he told about his adventures. The chosen one was a good pilot and a great mechanic, that would be helpful for getting out of here if she found him. The hot sun had made this a little bit harder than her resolve seemed to wane now that she was here. It was such a big planet, how was she going to find him? She had no idea where to begin.

She shuddered at the thought of coming here and not finding him. What if she really was stuck here for the time being? What if she couldn't find a way off and her mission was futile? Her master was going to kill her for running off and who knows how many things would change before she got back. The empire could crush the rebellion and she would be powerless to help it, here on an old separatist mining colony. Why couldn't this search be easy.

R6 beeped interrupted her thoughts as he asked her what was next, he had followed her to this and now it was up to her to get them out of here. She needed to keep moving on her plan but she was confused about this planet or if she could reveal she was an outsider. It was probably best to be cautious, the empire was outside this planet for a reason and though she couldn't figure it out she would be careful.

"I'm going to check out this shop," she spoke to him as they stopped out front of the shop she had seen with the ships, "you wait here and warn me if there's any trouble." Before he could protest about being left in the sun she stepped into the shop. She was immeditatley amazed at the organization she saw around her. Despite its dank location it was as well put together as it could be. She looked to the left there was an open wall and what appeared fo be a resturant. Even on this planet there was a place where you could eat food with your neighbors, the thought made her smile. The people around here probably knew each other really well, that was why she stuck out.

"Welcome," an old looking alien said stepping out of the back to the main counter. He had weird spikes on his face and his eyes looked insect like, his voice was smoother than she would have expected it to be based on his appearance. Growing up the alliance she had seen all sorts of alien lifeforms, nothing really phased her about how different they looked.

"I need a ship, preferably one that can get me to the next system," Ri-En added the last part before she could stop herself. It was a little rude to talk like that on such a deserted planet. Though he didn't seem to care about her comment as he smiled.

"Then you are out of luck, young one," he responded his eyes narrowing as he evaluated her. "My ships are only used for transport around the planet. If you want a ship you need to go to Pons Ora, its a much larger settlement on the other side of the planet." She should have known this wasn't going to be easy, though finding Pons Ora wouldn't be too hard since she had examined the map of the planet for a month before executing her plan. She sighed, she wasn't going to get very far just walking in the desert. Then she remembered that speeder shop she had seen walking down the main road, that could help her get to the place and then she could sell her speeder there.

"Well thank you sir," she said now turning to the restaurant, maybe she should rest and get food. There were a few people sitting in it but she didn't have time to evaluate them. She needed to get a move on to Pons Ora as soon as she could.

"You're not from around here, are you?" He asked now, this was the question she wanted to avoid. She didn't really want to think up a story at this point, she just wanted to get a move on to the main city.

"You will forget you ever saw me," she said stretching out with the force toward his mind, it was a risky thing to do but she knew it would work. She smiled as she felt her mind trick working, he was just weak enough to succumb to it.

"I will forget I ever saw you," he repeated. She then walked out of the shop back into the blistering heat of the sun, what she did not notice was the stranger in the restaurant watching her with a curious gaze. He had felt the force from her mind trick and instantly wished he had stayed home that morning, this girl was not a local and she was obviously trained. The force ripples he had felt grew as he watched her leave the shop, she was what it was pointing to. He argued with himself about what to do for a moment then his more curious side won. He would have to keep an eye on her to find out what she was, Jedi or Sith.

* * *

Taris never liked working with the inquisitors, the had been instated by Sidious to help with tracking down the Jedi. He had worked tirelessly to destroy them but the list of Jedi they encountered kept growing. They had continually eluded the inquisitors so Sidious had decided that it was time for Taris to start going on these missions herself. He hated the fact that they had not achieved results. She chopped it all up to his order to capture any Jedi they encountered. He apparently wanted to examine them himself. She assumed that's because he wanted them to turn to the dark side. That was until the Grand Inquisitor had told her he was looking for a specific powerful Jedi who had escaped from him years before. The Grand Inquisitor was the only one of their force sensitive force that was worth the time Sidious had spent on him and she missed him dearly. She would track down the Jedi that destroyed him before long, and she would relish ending his life.

"My Lord," one of the soliders sand and she turned letting her disdain for him show. These storm troopers really got on her nerves sometimes. Their blasters were unreliable, she wanted the military to have a complete overhaul but her master thought they were effective enough. They had hunted down and killed many Jedi before her time, so she guessed that maybe they were worth more than they seemed.

"You may speak sergeant," she responded scanning the horizon around her. She had quite a force behind her for one child but she knew she could never underestimate a Jedi, particularly not with Master Yoda still on the loose somewhere. Maybe he was responsible for the sudden reappearance of the Jedi.

"The inquisitors ship has reached the planet," he spoke his message, "should I send them our coordinates?" She knew the only way for the Jedi to get off this planet now was to go to a larger settlement than the one they were headed too. It was dangerous to put their whole force here. The girl was young but she could very well get away, like so many Jedi had before. They didn't often stay to fight, at the first opportunity they would run.

"Send them to Pons Ora," Taris said calmly, "We will search this side of the planet. Something's not quite right here. I sense a great amount of anger around us." She knew the feeling but she couldn't place it, something about this place made her wonder what the force had done to bring her and the Jedi both to this place.

* * *

"We need a speeder R6," she said as he protested her walking to the other side of the settlement. He was arguing that she had not had food in relatively 10 hours and that humans needed food to function. The droid was always calculating about her energy levels and vitals. This was probably due to the fact that her mother had told him to take care of her and he never let up on doing that. Perhaps she should oblige him just this once, she was feeling a little hungry.

She sighed looking back at the restaurant, she needed to save her money for the speeder but how much could that cost? On this planet due to the low resources it could cost a lot more than she on the planets she had visited before. She didn't have time to keep making stops, she had to figure out how to really begin her search. She could start asking questions but that would make her situation even more obvious. Now she was wishing she had forced Ahsoka to come with her. Her master would know exactly what to do right now and how to begin. Suddenly she was brought out of her thoughts by a disturbance in the force. She looked off into the distance and saw a dust cloud forming, a large force was headed this way. The empire had sent troops down.

"R6, we've gotta get out of here," she said to him unsure of where to go. She saw a dark alleyway between two of the buildings and snuck into it, her droid followed her and from there she ducked behind some barrels. She wanted to reach out and scan with the force but if they had an inquisitor she would be spotted for sure. After time passed she heard them entering the down. She crouched and peered over the barrels. She saw a young woman standing in front of the group and questioning one of the towns people who was describing Ri-En herself. Ri-En could feel the dark side energy surrounding the woman, it was too strong for a simple inquisitor.

"Where is the girl?" the woman sneered at the man in front of her. "I know she is here!" Ri-En then realized she had made a mistake using the force on the ship owner earlier. This woman had sensed her and was not going to let up. She reached a hand out and the man grasped his throat like he was chocking. She gasped almost loud enough to he heard but not quite. When she released the man she spoke again. "I am going to ask this one more time, Where is the girl?"

"She was just there a moment ago!" the man declared pointing at the restaurant. The woman then sent two troops toward the restaurant. They were causing turmoil and dragging people from the shop. This woman was too powerful to be a simple inquisitor, the dark side hovered around her like a cloud that she was channeling. This woman must be the Sith apprentice that her master was so concerned about. If it wasn't for the force telling her who this woman was she wouldn't have known by how young and beautiful she was. She had the obvious love of black that most Sith seemed to possess. That never made much sense to Ri-En, how did black become the color that people automatically associated with evil?

"We're in trouble R6," she said to her droid backing up into the darker shadows. None of this was part of the plan. She was supposed to get down here without attracting the attention of the empire which didn't work out since the empire was passing through this area. They must have been searching the outer rim for rebel activity when they spotted her ship. When detection failed she was supposed to get out of this area, but she had only just gotten to this town. How was she supposed to move fast enough to get away from the imperials without a speeder? What were they doing here? Maybe that Sith felt the same ripples in the force that she had.

Something snapped her from her thoughts when a hand tapped her shoulder and she would have cried out but that person quickly put a hand over her mouth pulling her around to face him. She found herself face to face with a man whom was kinda like one that was sitting in the restaurant earlier. He had darker curly blonde hair that was long around his face. His eyes were a deep blue that seemed to have so many stories to tell. There was a weariness in his facial features and a scar ran through his right eye, his eyes that held a calm aura but at the same time a deep seeded bitterness. He held up his finger to his lips and looked back out to where the Sith was continuing to threaten towns people who probably wished they knew where she was right now.

"If you want to live follow me," he whispered, his voice smooth and assured. She wasn't sure that she could trust him but she didn't really have any other options. A part of her was torn looking back at the people who were suffering because of her. A tear quickly slipped out of her eyes at what she had gotten herself into. She hesitated but the memory of her dad's face drove her on, she remembered what he had been fighting for when he vanished. She had to find the chosen one.

"Quickly," he urged her and she followed him from the back of the alleyway behind a stone building. She saw where the troops had entered the town but she didn't see any cover or a way to get out. That was when she saw what her newfound ally was going to do. He quickly slid down a hill that she hadn't even seen because of how all the colors were the same. It paid to have a local on her side. She followed him down and her droid did as well. They were careful not to make too much noise. He crouched in the ravine and she copied his movements when they came to a small tunnel he went in without a second thought and she followed him. She wondered where he was taking her and if it was safe for her to really just trust him. After following him through a few more tunnel ways they came out far enough away from the town that they could walk. He still moved quickly and she didn't blame him for his swiftness but she was tired and hadn't eaten in awhile. She should have listened to her droid back in the town.

* * *

Taris couldn't explain it but the girl had gotten out of the two. A thorough search revealed that the people here did indeed know nothing and the girl was nowhere to be found. They had seen her but somehow she had moved before they had gotten there. Taris had a sinking suspicion that the girl had gotten help in some way. She was here on a planet she had never been too before yet she had evaded them quite well.

"Send word to our troops on Pons Ora to keep an eye out," Taris told her sergeant as she reached out with the force for any leads. The Jedi was still on the planet and she wouldn't rest until she found her.

* * *

After a half an hour of walking she was falling behind and her newfound friend hadn't said much. Ri-En was beginning to wish they had rested in one of the tunnels or something. She was thirsty and wished she had gotten a pouch at one of the shops and filled it with water. The man in front of her seemed to want to keep moving at a brisk pace, he hadn't slowed since they left the tunnel mass behind. Maybe she should have asked questions earlier but for now she had no choice but to follow him. Whoever he was he hadn't turned her in yet.

"If you are tired you can always stay behind and wait for the storm troopers to find you," he finally spoke and when he said that it made her blood boil. Why had he saved her if he was just going to insult her. She had been through quite a bit today and she could use rest.

"Well I didn't ask for help," she muttered and if he heard her he didn't acknowledge it. She wondered who he was, what his story was and how he ended up on such a horrible planet. When she got off of this rock she would be happy to visit just about anywhere. Her droid was beeping about something, she was getting tired of hearing R6 complain about her life decisions. She realized he was scolding her about not eating earlier. She sighed her feet were beginning to really hurt. She wished she had worn something cooler but she hadn't expected to be on this planet alone without a ship. She felt tears threatening to come to her eyes again at the thought of all the men who had helped her get here dead and she was inwardly complaining about being tired.

They soon came to the top of a hill and she looked down to see mountain like structures at the bottom of it. The man pressed on down the hill and she once again followed but as she reached the bottom she stumbled. He turned around and walked over to her grabbing her arm and pulling her up.

How had he gotten himself into this? The fact that there was a Jedi on this planet was significant enough, but this girl was very young. She was too young to have been a part of the temple and that meant that there were more Jedi out there training others and rebuilding. He knew that the empire was in tact due to the storm troopers he saw in town. Someone had told him at the restaurant that morning that the empire troops had landed on the planet. He probably should have left it all alone if he wanted to remain in his solitude but he still had compassion on this young girl. She was too far out of her depth running from the empire on this planet. What was she even doing here? He turned back to see she had fallen behind again. Perhaps he wad being a little too hard with his pace but he knew the storm troopers would not let up anytime soon and they needed to get to shelter before the sandstorms started again.

"We can stop for a moment if you need to," he heard himself saying before he could stop himself. As if she had been waiting for it she quickly sat on the ground. Her droid rolled up to him, an R series that reminded him of his own unit. The droid started beeping incessantly and he frowned confused at what was happening and as he continued he heard the girl laugh. He looked to her and she smiled.

"He is scolding you for making us walk so fast," she explained, "he is like my guardian. My mother told him to always look after me, so he worries often for me." She acted like the droid had feelings. He knew that was crazy. A lot of things were crazy. It was insane that the force had drove him to the settlement in time to see that girl and what she had done. It was crazy that he had actually helped her and it was crazy that she was bringing her to his cave. There was a whole lot of crazy happening around him today. He was still wondering about who she was.

"What's your name kid?" he asked her, needing to satisfy his curiosity.

"I am Ri-En," she responded and nodded to her droid, "and this is my droid R6-J3." She then stood up and started walking again cuing him that she was ready to keep moving. He knew he would have to answer with a name.

"I am Owen Lars," he said holding out his hand. She took it, making note that he knew gestures that were common to mid rim systems. She realized that no matter who he was she was safe with him, something about him made her trust him. Despite how weary she was she forced herself to press on.

* * *

 _ _ _*14 Years Earlier*___

* * *

 _"It's a girl," Ahsoka declared lifting the baby up and handing her to her father. It had been a few hours of labor so far and just when they were all getting tired of waiting the baby had come. Siri breathed a sigh of relief as Obi-Wan brought the child to her._

 _"My girl," she said taking the baby, she was beautiful. Never in her life had she thought she would have a child, after dedicating her life to being a Jedi it was the furthest thing from her mind. Yet here she was, and after so much loss she was holding a little piece of hope. Hope that in the end they could win this fight. And in that moment something changed in Obi-Wan's face and Ahsokas._

 _It was cold at first then there was distress, Ahsoka saw flashes on ships and Anakin fighting. It was cold as the force was screaming out, calling to them through Anakin. Desperation and despair was all around them as the cold winds increased. Obi-Wan found himself frozen in time unable to move as the force pulled them all toward itself. The force's child was crying out and it had no one there to help him and when that moment ended the bonds of life he had with his master and apprentice were suddenly shattered. Obi-Wan reached out to try to grab the pieces in front of him but just as quickly as they broke he found himself back in the room, Siri and his child in front of him. Sorrow overwhelming him on what should have been the happiest moment of his life._

 _"No!" Ahsoka cried out running from the room as her hope shattered and she knew she would never find her master. Everything that she had been fighting for seemed so futile without him. Obi-Wan looked to Siri and knelt down beside her looking at the baby. No matter how dark things were getting around them they had to keep fighting. They needed to keep hope._

 _"Ri-En," he said to Siri, "that's what we should call her." Siri looked a little confused._

 _"It's a beautiful name," she said, "but what does it mean?" He thought about what he had just seen, he knew Siri could feel something was wrong but he didn't want to speak about what he had just lost. He needed to put it out of his mind for now._

 _"It means hope."_

* * *

 **I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. I was going to continue but I felt like this was a good place to break for another chapter! Please leave a review and let me know what you think!**

 **A Winter Chill**


	4. Beginnings: The Force

**Chapter 4 - The Force's Call**

* * *

Abafar would have been the last place she looked for her padawan but it was clearly what Cody had said in his message. The place was once a separatist mining colony but now it had a very low population. It was the perfect place for someone to hide long term, and Ahsoka tried hard to suppress the seeds of hope that sprung in her once they reached hyperspace. If Anakin was going to disappear the Abafar would be the perfect spot to do so. She couldn't believe he would do that despite the thought in her head. What would be so powerful to cause the distress she felt, and to shatter the bonds they held if not death? If he was still alive what would drive him to do something like this? The questions came so powerfully to her mind and she couldn't really get a handle on them so she suppressed them.

"We are about 18 hours out," she heard Hera say snapping her out of her thoughts, she wished they could move faster but it was not to be. She nodded back to the Twilek pilot. Hera was one of the best the rebellion had and Ahsoka was glad to count her as a dear friend. They had been in communication for a long time before the team had joined up with her larger rebel group.

"I am glad we got a lead to follow," Kanan said now, he was standing behind them a little bit unwilling to stay silent about the mission they were on right now. They were chasing after Kenobi's daughter who had gone to find the chosen one, Skywalker. Kanan hadn't really ever spoken to Skywalker himself but he knew him by sight at the temple. The Jedi was a legend for how quickly he progressed in his training and how efficient he was as a general in the clone wars. The masters seemed to be wary of him despite his successes. The rumor was he was arrogant and unwilling to learn to control his emotions, he put the lives of the people he cared about above the greater good. Kanan knew he was Ahsoka's master and she obviously held him in high regard and was among the Jedi who did see him as the chosen one.

"Ri-En is never going to be left alone after this stunt," Ahsoka responded, she had been worrying about the girl ever since she had left though she knew she was still alive. "I should have realized she was going to pull something like this. The signs were all there, she kept talking about the clone wars stories she had heard and her father's mission to find Anakin. I just never realized she was going to take that all upon herself, she's quite rash sometimes."

"Did Obi-Wan really believe he was still alive?" Kanan asked her. He wasn't too sure about the whole situation. He knew Skywalker was among the Jedi that the empire had reported dead but then again so was he. Ahsoka seemed to really believe he was gone, and she was his apprentice; their bond was strong. When she left the Jedi temple he remembered people saying that Anakin was never the same.

"Obi-Wan didn't want to believe that he had died," Ahsoka countered shaking her head and remembering Obi-Wan's determination to get back out there. He had listened to Ahsoka and Siri for three years but he couldn't stop himself from believing because Anakin couldn't be dead not with the Sith still out there. His daughter had been so much the same. She wanted to search for Anakin instead of her own father because she believed that was what her father would have wanted them to do, and to her credit she was probably right about that.

"Whatever the situation," Hera said to them, "Ri-En seemed to think this planet was important enough to check out. Maybe when she finds nothing it will shatter the belief she holds." Ahsoka didn't know how she felt about that happening. Ri-En's hopes and ideas made her so lively, what would she do when she faced the harsh reality of how the world really was. There was so much darkness around them and yet Ri-En seemed unaffected by it. Of course she did hide any negative emotions she had, she buried them and Ahsoka was surprised when the girl revealed them. It probably wasn't the best thing for the girl to do but it was a hard topic to address when she seemed unwilling to acknowledge them.

"I admit it is the perfect place to hide," Ahsoka replied, "maybe that's why she thought it would be the one to end her search."

"And if it is?" Kanan asked now because he could not deny the amazing abilities that Ri-En had. They had felt ripples in the force and not known what to make of them, maybe Ri-En felt them stronger and saw just what the force was calling her to do.

"It won't be," Ahsoka spoke now but the way she said it sounded as if she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else. She didn't want to believe it was true because she didn't want to face the heartbreak of shattered hope ever again.

* * *

The way he walked seemed to be important, like he had actually been something at some point and maybe that was true. Before the empire there were a lot more important people in the galaxy. Now it was governors and the Emperor himself. She wondered what he had been and really wondered what had happened to him that he had ended up here. Maybe he was one of the miners before the planetary structure had fallen into ruins. She had done her homework on this place, and she really was surprised that Ahsoka had not noticed. Then again her master was sidetracked with so much, bringing Obi-Wan and Siri back and then searching for information on the new Sith.

"Do you got a last name to go the one you gave me." He asked now. He was very curious about Ri-En, something about her was familiar but she was definitely too young to be someone he had know. She was no more than 14 by his determination, why would a 14 year old Jedi be down here without a master? Who would authorize something like this? Maybe she just had no other choice. Maybe her master had been killed by the same empire troops that were after her. That situation had the highest possibility of being what happened, particularly since her disposition kept changing from frustrated to sad. She put up a good front, not complaining to him, just smiling when she talked. She was obviously a good Jedi to be able to hold her emotions in such control. That was something he was never good at.

"Marris," she replied moving her head to the side and smiling. That was the last name that her and Ahsoka had made up for missions; she couldn't run around calling herself Kenobi unless she wanted empire attention about it everywhere she went. They continued to walk in silence when they reached a small cave opening. She followed him in to a very large room in the cave, she wouldn't have found this on her own it was perfect. It was lit by a small generator that looked home made and she gave a second glance at this person. Her wonderings about him were beginning to change. He walked to a metal box on one side and pulled out some dried meat. Then he walked to a container and poured out some water into a cup. He handed the meat and water to her and motioned for her to sit down.

"You are safe here," he said reassuring her. She felt the emotions of the day all crashing on her at once. She was strong enough not to cry but her force shields were beginning to slip a little. He quickly picked up on the sorrow and determined emotions that were coursing through her. There was something else as well, her force signature seemed to similar to one he had felt before but it had been so long he couldn't place it. "What's a girl like you doing out here on one of the most desolate planets in the galaxy?" He asked not wanting to pry but he wanted her to feel safe so that he could figure out how there were new Jedi and which one's had survived. Curiosity had continued to win out over his desire to continue his solitude. The force was urging him on like he was meant to meet this girl but he didn't want to leave here. He decided it wouldn't hurt to know more. He didn't have to leave this planet just because he talked to a young Jedi.

"I..." she paused looking into the man's eyes and the depth they had in them, she felt like she could trust him even though she was wary of everyone on this planet. This stranger, Owen Lars was not going to hurt her and he had just undoubtedly saved her life. She was nowhere near ready to go up against a Sith, even a young one in training. "I am looking for someone." She confessed seeing nothing go off in his expression, she had wondered if he was what she was looking for even though it would be a strange coincidence for that to happen. He turned away getting himself some food. She was eating as if contemplating whether to say more about it.

"And where is your family?" he asked now as if it was obvious that she should have one. She took a deep breath, breathing her sadness in and then she breathed out letting go of the things that had plagued her for so long. She had to be strong no matter what was happening around her. That was what her father and mother had counted on when they had left her. _Abandoned_ , that was a word that small voice in her head kept telling her.

"I haven't seen my dad since I was three," she replied once again letting her emotions go with each word she said, "and my mom left to find him eight years ago, so I don't know where they are." A noise outside caused her to jump.

"Don't worry that's just the sandstorm," the man said his voice once again calming her. Whoever she was figuring out who her family were wasn't helping him determine more about the Jedi, though he wondered about how strong her force sensitivity was to use a mind trick at 14 and on a pretty tough target. The signature she gave off seemed to suggest that one of her parents at least was a Jedi he knew and he froze when he looked at her again. Her hair was auburn, her features were so similar but seeing the female version of them hadn't set off his recognition at all. This girl looked like his old master and suddenly he realized that was the force signature he was sensing in her was familiar because it was the one he was bonded to for so long. This girl was somehow related to Obi-Wan. She seemed to notice his expression change but she didn't say anything.

"How is it possible," he muttered turning away toward the wall and walking a few steps. This had to be some trick of his enemies to throw him off; surely Obi-Wan was dead and even if he was alive he would never have kids. She was suddenly confused, he seemed to shut back into his quiet shell very suddenly. The wheels in his head were turning about the girls father, if she really could be Obi-Wan's daughter. Who was she looking for on this planet, that answer seemed to be right in front of him as well. The force had brought him to the village and it had brought her, she was looking for Anakin Skywalker and she did not know that he was right in front of her. How long would it be until she found him out.

"Get some rest," he said turning to her a hardness in his voice now. She was more confused than before about him but he was right she needed to rest. She was very tired.

"I need to get to Pons Ora," she quickly said as he was walking out of the main part of the cave. He turned back to her and she once again saw the weariness on his face. What had happened to him to cause this? She hadn't really said anything, but he was reverting back to the more angry version of himself she saw when they first started walking away from town.

"We'll discuss it in the morning," he replied walking out of the main room. She sighed, her droid rolled up to her and beeped that she needed to sleep. She smiled at him putting her hand on top of his dome.

"You are right R6," she replied with a smile, "It's a good time to sleep, while we are still safe."

* * *

Anakin couldn't stop himself from rushing deeper into the caverns. It was dark down here but he didn't care. He stopped when he was far enough away to feel like she couldn't sense him anymore. He had lived in this place so long, under the safety of the dark side energy that surrounded here. Sidious couldn't find his light beneath it and he held his shields up strong but somehow the force had brought someone here to find him; it was playing a cruel game with him. He fell onto his knees deep in the cavern as he begged his mind to forget what was happening around him. This girl was obviously what he had pegged her as above, Obi-Wan's daughter, he had survived but she didn't even know where he was. He had worked so hard to escape his life as a Jedi in this place, to escape the call of the force that always followed him.

"Can I ever be free?" he asked the force now, he had so long wished the force would just take him into death, away from the darkness he was all but convinced he had caused. The world around him controlled by the Sith, everything was his fault. He hadn't been strong enough to prevent it and now he wondered why so many believed in him. He couldn't save them all. Tears now came as old wounds re-opened an anger he hadn't allowed himself to feel for so long. He'd lost the Jedi, who had been his family for so long and he had lost Padme who was going to have his child before Palpatine had killed her and ended his heart. He had been in pain for so long, what he had done to bury it was all for nothing because if felt it coursing through his veins now stronger than it had been in so long. His shields were still up but it never stopped him from feeling the force around him.

He had been so afraid and his fear had cause him to hate what he had become. He had run away from everything to get away from his dark side but now it was all crashing and flowing around him now. He couldn't run away from it, nothing that he did could save himself from it. Why did that girl have to come to this planet? What had he done to cause the force to do something like this to him? She had lost her family but there was still a strength that was evident in her, that was something he had never had in the face of loss.

"You were always so dramatic," he heard a voice in the force now, he had spent a long time shutting it out but it was breaking through with all of the pain his memories brought. The voice of Qui-Gon had begged him for so long to return to the world and take his rightful place by destroying the Sith and the darkness that put the force out of balance. He had never wanted to have the destiny that so many had thrust upon him from the time he was just a child. He had tried to outrun it for so long, because all he wanted was the people that he cared about to be safe. That was his sole reason for becoming a Jedi, to be strong enough to save them but he wasn't strong enough to save anyone. He was too drawn to power to really understand that it was the darkness he was meant to destroy. So many had died believing in him and they were so wrong, they had always been wrong about him.

"Leave me alone," Anakin said now telling the voice to go but he didn't have the same strength that had helped him all these years. That girl had shattered it by merely existing, proving to him that somewhere out there people were still fighting while he was here being such a failure. Couldn't they just accept that the Sith had won? Couldn't they just leave him alone to die?

"I didn't find you on Tatooine for nothing," the voice continued, "You know deep down that your life was meant for a greater purpose. Stop submitting to your selfish desires. Stop running from who you really are. You may find that the force is not a cruel as you think it is; that the world around you is not as dark as it seems." More tears flowed from his eyes, he had longed to believe for so long that maybe they could end the pain the galaxy felt. He had given up on that belief long ago; when he had lost Padme. She would have run to the ends of the earth for him when it all fell apart but he was too late to save her; to late to save anyone. His mother had also died because he was too late to save her.

"Can it return to me what I have lost?" Anakin questioned in anger. The voice didn't respond and he realized that it had gone. He had successfully blocked it out and ended the rush of the force he had felt. He closed it in his mind, letting the pain and fear disappear with it just like he had done for so long. He could get this girl off the planet and into safety then he could return to his life in solitude until the force allowed him to die. Little did he know the force had other plans for him.

* * *

"We are getting nowhere!" Taris shouted in frustration. Her battalion had been searching tunnels and other things they found in the area when the sand storm had set upon them. They had rushed into an old mining cavern and her scouts had not come back yet. She was beyond angry now that such a young Jedi evaded her, it was like the Tachi situation all over again. Her master would not be pleased if she returned without results. She shuddered to think of the consequences. Out of all the force sensitives he had on his side he had chosen her to be his apprentice, a task she did not take lightly.

She knew that Sidious had seen the strength of her connection to the force as a great asset but she believed he could change his mind if she wasn't careful. He was distant at times, sometimes speaking of the potential apprentice he had lost years before and this bothered her. He was dead set on finding the Jedi whom he believed to be powerful enough to surpass even her. If he ever did find the man she would make sure she destroyed him. It was that singular goal that drove her to excellence as a Sith, and it was that anger that she held onto with every mission she approached. It was that anger that she held now, especially with the changing winds of the force on this planet.

"We can't get a transmission out until this storm lets up," one of her troops said but she felt a calm coming over her. Whatever happened next she was ready to destroy the Jedi and return home, that goal drove her on and she felt the dark side collecting around her in it. This child was not the one Sidious was looking for and she would take great pleasure in killing her.

* * *

She woke up to the shock of cold around her, on this planet she didn't think there could be cold but she soon realized it was a coldness in the force that had awaken her. The dark side was present here. Something about this place echoed through her as she shivered from the feeling. Her droid was still powered down for the night and she didn't want to wake him, Owen Lars was also nowhere in sight, she wondered where he had gone with a giant sandstorm brewing. Maybe he could helper get to Pons Ora once the storm ended, then from there she could call her master and get out of this place. She knew she had to find the man she came for but the cold she felt frightened her.

She looked around the cave the Owen seemed to live in, it wasn't very home like at all. She looked at the many boxes he had scattered around the room, there were also ship parts and electronics everywhere. Maybe he had been trying to build a ship to get off this rock. She guessed there was no good organization strategy to living in a cave. She was still tired, some more rest would do her good. She was about to lay back down when something changed.

She felt the force calling to her from one of the larger boxes it was a burst of dark and light side energy calling that she did not expect. She starred at it as the room suddenly felt like it was getting smaller and the box in front of her was standing out as if it held something important. She must have missed something some detail that was calling to her now, her head was swimming from the thought. Memories of her parents reminded her that she must always mind her surroundings. How had she not noticed this box before. Her breath caught as she found herself being pulled into a vision.

 _"Ri-En!" she heard a voice calling her, "Ri-En!" Her head was pounding as she saw a man in view, he was unmistakably her father. He looked older and weaker than he had been when she had last seen him. He also looked so far away in the vision just like he was to her in life now. Though she barely knew him she always felt him missing from the life she knew among the rebels._

 _"Dad!" she called to him but there was dark energy swirling around them, she couldn't get to him. She couldn't move from the shock of suddenly being here._

 _"Have you found him?" was the question that came from her dad but his voice sounded like a thousand voices speaking to her. Images started flashing around her of battles and pain, many people dying. A strange man with long hair and a young boy. The Jedi and the dark side_ _swirling around them but one image came into view clearly it was her father with the man she had met here they were talking but she could not hear. There was a love and admiration on her fathers face when he looked at the man in front of him. The man was dressed in Jedi robes, a strength and power seemed to rest on him a light so strong and yet a dark so dangerous. This was the chosen one, he was the one she was looking for. He was young her, less burdened and oddly free._

 _"Have you found him?" The voices said together again, it was a powerful sound both terrible and beautiful. She was fast pulled back into images of the deaths of hundreds of Jedi as they fought for their lives. He was there, the man who had saved her kneeling before someone dark and terrible, then again holding some woman he seemed to love dearly. There was so much pain around her as more images of death flooded into view. She saw her father in the distance from her being enveloped by the darkness she so feared. She screamed, closing her eyes to the images trying to shut out the pain._

She found herself back in the cave screaming from the vision she had seen, her droid had powered up and was beeping. She was backed against the cave wall dripping in sweat when he rushed back in called by the sounds of her screams. She looked into the face of the man she had spent so many years believing was alive somewhere and the feeling she had was not relief it was pain. It was like all she could see when she saw him was pain, the fear and anger that he possessed. The dark side was all over this place it seemed to rest on him, it frightened her. How could he be the one she was searching for with so much dark in him. She couldn't stop herself, she ran out past him into the storm.

* * *

Ahsoka sat up, another disturbance shot off in the force. Things were changing and colliding as she turned to Kanan. He had felt it too, whatever they were walking into was not what they had prepared for.

* * *

 **I don't know if I will be able to sustain fast updates when the work week starts. I am going to set a goal of writing one a week as well as working on my other stories.**

 **Thank you guys for following and favoriting! Please review and let me know what you think!**

 **AWINTERCHILL**


	5. Beginnings: Kenobi

****Chapter 5 - Kenobi****

* * *

 _She looked into the face of the man she had spent so many years believing was alive somewhere and the feeling she had was not relief it was pain. It was like all she could see when she saw him was pain, the fear and anger that he possessed. The dark side was all over this place it seemed to rest on him, it frightened her. How could he be the one she was searching for with so much dark in him. She couldn't stop herself, she ran out past him into the storm._

* * *

Anakin found himself in the middle of the swirling sandstorm his eyes blinded as he reached out into nothing. It was dangerous to be out here but he had to follow the girl, Ri-En Marris, no Kenobi his mind reminded him. She was a Kenobi, she had to be. It didn't mater what she had said it was there in her features and in the force. This girl was the daughter of his old mentor and she was crazy enough to run into this storm, that was completely unexpected. He was reminded now why he hated sand as it stung against his skin and burned his eyes. He had heard Ri-En crying out in the cave but what was louder to him was her screams of despair echoing through the force. He was worried that whoever was hunting her might have also heard it as she woke up from whatever dream had plagued her. He had gotten himself into this by getting her away from the main town, now he felt as though she was his responsibility.

He knew he had to find her, he had already revealed much by bringing her here. The way she had looked at him when she was in the cave just before she ran out was shocking to him. She looked at him with fear like he was the subject of the nightmare, maybe he was. She was perceptive, who knows what she had seen in him. He didn't even know if it was a nightmare that had caused this, he was just guessing. The little droid next to him kept beeping. He could barely hear it over the sounds of the winds. If only he hadn't brought the girl here, she might not be in this situation but then again she would probably dead or on the empire ship heading to the emperor. If she had followed the force to this place then he would have figured it out and broken Anakin's solitude anyways. He need to find her for more than one reason but the biggest one on his mind was his memory of Obi-Wan.

"Ri-En!" he called out into nothing because he could barely hear his own voice, it was pointless to open his mouth with so much sand flying around. He knew what needed to happen here but he hadn't done it in so long a part of him wished he could find her without it but he knew it was futile. He would just end up as lost as she was at this point. He closed his eyes to the storm, cleared his mind and stretched out with the force. The feeling was familiar to him but it had been so long that it also felt strange. It took a moment but he started stepping forward as he identified her force signature, she was shouting into it. What had happened? He really wasn't prepared to handle this but he had to try.

It took a bit of effort to move in the storm but he soon found himself in a bubble that was blocked from the storm, the girl he was looking for was in front of him but the storm was around them without touching them. He realized it was Ri-En's doing, she was holding the winds back around her as she sat on the ground, her knees pulled into her shielding her face. He had never seen anyone so young use the force quite like this. She was so young, too young to be so far out of her depth alone. Before Anakin could speak she said words he did not expect.

"You're him," he could hear in her voice that she was crying even as her head went up to reveal it, her eyes still held the fear in them but there were other emotions there too. A sadness was there, something that had existed long before he met her.

"We gotta get out of here," he said quickly, it wouldn't be long before the Sith Lord found them with the force energy that Ri-En was using. She was basically announcing her presence in the force right now. He stepped forward but decided he needed to clam her down before he could really approach her. "I am a friend Ri-En, I don't know what happened but I know that I can help you get off this planet. I will help you but you have to trust me." She shook hear head, she didn't need his help, she had gotten here without her parents or her master. She could get off this planet and then she could run far away from everything.-

"I found you without help," she quickly said, "I don't need anyones help!" He waited for he realized she was going to speak again. "I know who you are. You are the one my dad left to find! He always said you were the one who could save us, the chosen one. Anakin Skywalker." He was shocked to hear his name, the name he knew well but no one had spoken to him in forever. He had almost erased its meaning entirely but he knew somehow he knew that one day he would have to return to face the world. Now hearing his master had such faith in him, he could't believe he would live up to it.

"Yes," he replied looking away from her, "I was called that once. Come back with me and we can talk about it." She shrunk back, still afraid of something she had seen. He didn't know how to react to that, to this child that had come here for the purpose of interrupting his exile.

"I saw you," she said distantly looking as if into the force itself, "the dark side is around you I saw it, I can feel it. How can it be there when you are meant to be the one to destroy it? My father said you were going to destroy them, the ones who try to kill us." She was a very perceptive child, somehow she was very strong with the force. Who was her mother? There was no doubt in his mind that she had to be a Jedi too in order for Obi-Wan's child to be this strong. He had to somehow persuade her to come back, how could he respond to how well she had him pegged. The dark side in him was what he feared the most, it was why he would rather stay in solitude rather than risking the destruction of the universe. He knew deep down that he had enough power to cause more destruction than any of the Sith before should Sidious try to turn him again.

To stay on the Jedi path he left everything, threw everything away, even Padme. That thought brought more pain to him than anything, because he had been so close to taking Sidious's offer for her. Old wounds were opened as the memory of her face hit him and the choices he made rushed at him. He had been too late to stop the destruction of the order when he woke up from the haze that Sidious had put him in.

"I know what you are saying Ri-En," he said now walking closer to her, kneeling down in front of her, placing a hand on her arm. She didn't shrink back. "Maybe I am not what you expected but I am the one you were searching for. There is a dark side in me but there's a dark side in all of us, it is the potential we have to choose the wrong path." She had tears streaming down her face more and he suspected there was more to what had frightened her than he understood and he had to understand it to help this girl. He needed her to trust him enough first. He dropped his shields for the first time in 14 years letting himself be exposed to whoever could see him. He closed his eyes and reached his mind out to hers with a memory.

* * *

 _Anakin could barely contain his awe of the room that was in front of him. There were fountains, and nature everywhere. This place reminded him of Naboo, it was beautiful. Obi-Wan had told him that this was a place that people meditated in so he had to be quiet. He turned to his master who was sitting with his legs crossed breathing steadily in and out. Anakin was having trouble with this meditating stuff himself and found that his attention was on the fountain in front of him._

 _"I know what you're doing," Obi-Wan spoke almost causing Anakin to jump, he had thought the older Jedi was completely checked out to what he was doing. He had been fiddling with the grass in front of him. He knew that they were going to be sent on their first mission together soon as he was nervous. He was never very good at meditation. He had too many questions for his master, questions that Obi-Wan was reluctant to answer.  
_

 _"I'm sorry master," Anakin said. Obi-Wan realized the boys head was not in the game today, he was thinking about something.  
_

 _"What is on your mind padawan?" he asked the boy. They had gotten along well in their first week as master and padawan but Obi-Wan realized nothing could prepare him for handling such an energetic boy._

 _"I heard a couple of older Jedi talking about the dark side," Anakin said truthfully, it wouldn't do well for him to lie, "they said master Qui-Gon once had a padawan that turned to the dark side. What does that mean? Did he become like the guy who killed Master Qui-Gon." Obi-Wan wasn't expecting this question but he knew that Anakin was new to the ways of the force, the light side vs the dark side were new concepts._

 _"The dark side is best understood as the way that the Sith and a few others use the force," Obi-Wan said trying to figure out how to best explain this to the child in front of him. "We Jedi use the force for the greater good, to better the world around us. The Sith use the force for their own selfish desires, to gain power. We call what they do the dark side of the force because they use brutal force techniques to cause pain to their enemies instead of using the force for their defense as Jedi do." Anakin still looked a little confused._

 _"But isn't everyone a little selfish," He replied, "is that how Jedi turn to the dark side? And how do we keep from being selfish so that we don't turn to the dark side?" So may questions, Obi-Wan didn't remember being like this when he was young._

 _"I guess there is a little bit of dark side in all of us," Obi-Wan mused, realizing he hadn't thought about this much, "but a Jedi chooses to let of of their selfish desires, attachments and anything else that could weigh them down. We choose to let go of our dark side to become someone that can serve the greater good of the galaxy." He was a little surprised at his own answer to the boy but it seemed to satisfy Anakin enough._

 _"I think I understand," Anakin replied but Obi-Wan could tell the boy was still considering his answer._

 _"Don't worry too much about it Anakin," Obi-Wan said to him now, "I will be here to guide you through whatever comes. You will never have to be afraid."_

* * *

Obi-Wan looked up from where he was, it was dark in this dungeon and the chains were cold but for the first time in a long time he felt a light. Something had changed in the force and this time he felt it, Anakin reaching into the force for the first time in so many years. Anakin was alive, it was unmistakable. The opposite feelings he had felt 14 years ago reached him, a joy at his return. Darth Sidious turned to face Obi-Wan and saw that the man had felt the same tremor in the force that he had. The man who he had searched so long for had finally revealed himself to still be alive and he would be certain that this time Anakin was truly his apprentice.

"You will never have him," Obi-Wan declared, he had been in chains here for so long, but for the first time in a long time he felt hope for the whole galaxy. Their chosen one was really alive.

"We shall see," Sidious responded leaving the cell, "We shall see."

* * *

Anakin opened his eyes as the memory faded to see the girl in front of him staring deep into his eyes, as if understanding what it had cost him to reach to her the way he had. She understood now that he had held himself behind his force walls for so long and that letting them to meant revealing his life to more than just her allies. There was a sadness there, and he knew that the time for his solitude had ended for he was all but certain that even his enemies had realized he was back. She suddenly shocked him by throwing her arms around him and crying more, he felt more compassion for her. Maybe the years of meditation here had made him a better Jedi they had certainly calmed him down.

"Kenobi," Anakin spoke now out of a desire to really hear the truth for her, "is your real name Ri-En Kenobi?" She let go of him and looked at him a little shocked that he had figured it out so quickly but then again she had figured out who he was through a force vision. Neither of them had been completely honest with each other but they hadn't realized what the force had done to bring them to this point. It was settled around them, no longer rippling and fighting.

"Yes," she replied, "I am a Kenobi, the daughter of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi Knight Siri Tachi. They are going to be so happy when they find out you are really alive. My father has been searching for you as long as I've been alive." He was not surprised at that at all. He had felt Obi-Wan tailing him many years before when he needed the force to survive, before he could really put up his force shield. He hadn't reached out to his old mentor due to the shame of what he had almost become but after all these years his fear seemed so distant. It was like the force was telling him now was the time for him to face his past and to try again but could he really control his dark side? Could he really he trusted as this girl seemed to desire to trust him. His mind turned back to the girls mothers name, he knew the jedi of which she spoke.

"Siri?" Anakin spoke a little shocked, he knew that Siri and Obi-Wan were close friends within the order but he would have never thought the two of them could be romantically involved. A spark did exist between them but his master was such a perfect Jedi. He should have remembered that Obi-Wan was still human. There must be a story or two he didn't know about them in the past. After the fall of the Jedi they must have seen no point of continuing to follow the rules.

It was then that the sandstorm around them stopped, and they saw they weren't to far away from his cave. He wondered why it stopped at that moment. The shifts in the force on this planet were very strange indeed. He stood up and the girl followed. He saw her droid sliding up to them but she wasn't looking away from him as if she was worried he was going to disappear.

* * *

Taris watched as the storm around them dissipated. She had felt the Jedi she was seeking crying out in the force but she had been unable to convince her men to trust her enough to set out into the storm. That had made her angry, a few of them had died over it but they were convinced she would get lost out there. The feeling she had was in the north of where they were and she would have her men moving soon. There had been another that had used the force out there as well and she hoped that she would get there in time to stop them.

* * *

"We've gotta get out of here," Anakin said picking up the large box that Ri-En had been looking at earlier. Whatever it was it was important enough for him to bring with him. Her brain was still processing her success and the improbability of it, he was right of course they were going to be found by the Sith if they didn't move. Their best chance was to go to Pons Ora and from there to the alliances main ship. After that she had her own plans, and she hoped that he would help her find her father and mother. One thing at a time she had to concentrate on the moment like her master always told her too but she was a bit overwhelmed with what the vision of her father could mean. Sure it revealed who the man with her was but she also saw her father being enveloped by darkness. She then heard R6 beeping about something.

"I know R6," she said turning to him, "I can try to contact our friends once we reach the city but it may be awhile more before we see them again." He beeped again about her needing to clean the sand out off him when they got back. She smiled, having R6 here with here had made getting through this trip a little better.

"How are we going to get to the settlement?" Ri-En asked, she was a little tired again, she had not gotten enough sleep. From what she knew Pons Ora was too far for them to walk the whole way there without having to stop one too many times for her taste. That Sith woman was probably going to catch them soon. He motioned for her to follow her. They walked through a series of tunnels to reach a cave that opened to the outside. That was when she saw what it was talking about, there was a speeder here.

"I spent ten years building this," he said to her, "I knew it might serve me well someday."

* * *

 **Well this story is moving at a brisk pace because meeting Anakin is just the intro. There are a lot of adventures ahead for Ri-En.**

 **Awinterchill**


	6. Beginnings: Force Fighter

**The action will rev up more in this chapter! I am so excited to release it. Action isn't my strength when writing but it's still fun to do. I also must warn you guys for the future, I am the kind of author who is known to kill of characters, however I still haven't decided on a few characters futures. Just letting you guys no not to be shocked if there are some sad moments in the upcoming chapters.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6 - Force Fighter**

* * *

They had loaded up the speeder fast and set out for Pons Ora. He knew it was a 6 hour trip on the small planet. He had not really expected Ri-En to open up to him after he had only shared a little information about who he was but he expected her to be a little bit more talkative. Right now Ri-En was silent as she starred out into the sand around them, it wasn't like she was looking at something she thought was beautiful. He thought about how quickly his life had changed in a single day. He had never expected to see another Jedi again, much less a child of Obi-Wan Kenobi. He had really thought he was going to remain here forever, the force was around him now and it seemed to be telling him to go. He didn't really want to rejoin the world around them, he wanted to get Ri-En to safety then find another planet to hide himself on; even then he might already be too late with that plan. The Emperor probably already felt that he was alive, and in that case he would never find peace in solitude again.

"So you never told me how you ended up down on this rock," he spoke to the girl now, he really wanted to find out how she had found the planet he was on. Maybe the information would give him a clue as to how to hide himself better next time.

"It's a long story," she sighed thinking over the events of the past week, "I didn't really have authorization to come here but the force was telling me I had to. My father spent my whole life searching for you, so much so that I haven't seen him since I was very young. My master said I should expend my energy looking for him instead but somehow I felt that he would want me to find you and the force seemed to agree." He then felt sadness like a wave from her. "I brought a group of people who believed in my mission. We were attacked by the empire above the planet, they sent me down in a fighter." She paused for a long while and he thought she was done until she spoke again. "They're probably all dead, because of me."

He didn't know what he could say to comfort her. He knew what it was like to loose lives on the battlefield since he had fought in the clone wars but near the end he felt that he was disregarding life more than he should. He had no longer even given a second glance at the lists of the men they lost until the day when there was a wanted list on the escaped Jedi. He had been at odds with the Jedi council for awhile, but it was still his family He could still hardly believe that he had almost led the attack on the temple himself. He shuddered putting the thoughts of that fateful day out of his head.

"I'm sure they were prepared to die for you," he said, "It's a sad reality of choosing to fight against the empire."

"I knew I wasn't crazy," she replied to him, "and they believed me. The sad thing is that they'll never know that the mission was successful. I found you despite what everyone said. My master should have known better than to give up hope." Anakin found himself curious about who trained this girl but he had a feeling he would known soon enough when he returned her. He was still wondering about what was bothering the girl part of it had to be loosing those who got her here but there was something deeper going on.

He wondered about her running out of the cave earlier, it had to be more than the perceptions she got from him. He had a feeling she wasn't the kind of person to just run from a confrontation. Her expression was different than the one she had carried when he had first gotten her out of town, there was something on her mind and he did not know if he could help her.

She was feeling a little overwhelmed with the whole empire seemingly chasing her down, the Sith and maybe even inquisitors coming. They seemed to always send inquisitors when they found a Jedi and this time she didn't have Ahsoka to save her. She looked at the person she did have though, if he was as great as they said she had a feeling that she would be okay yet she was still uneasy. She had seen her father enveloped by the darkness in her vision and though she didn't know him well she loved him and had always dreamed of the day he would come home. Maybe that was why she wanted to find Anakin so badly, because she believed if she did her father would return. What if he couldn't return anymore? What if something was preventing him?

She couldn't imagine life without the hope that someday her parents were returning but with each passing year that hope grew more dim. Ahsoka had told her over and over that any day now they were going to come back for her. She knew that Skywalker could feel in the force that her emotions were low but she didn't think he needed to hear about it. She had just interrupted his life here, and he was taking it rather well. She did not want to shatter that.

* * *

Ahsoka yawned as she heard Hera talking with the ports ground crews about their landing. It had been a long trip to get here and she was still very worried about Ri-En. She felt a strong dark side presence from the planet below. What had the girl gotten herself into? She turned to see Kanan's expression said he felt it as well. He had rested while they were in hyperspace but Ahskoa was unable to sleep for worry over her padawan.

They were soon cleared to land and they exited their ship to a really run down space port. They had made a plan for Kanan and herself to split up and search the settlement in a couple of waves, Hera would remain and the ship and report any unusual activity around the port. They had narrowly avoided Imperial ships on their way to the planet but Ahsoka was convinced that they had troops on the surface hunting Ri-En, she had felt Ri-En's distress hours before but the girl had sent her the signal they had for each other to let each other know they were okay; that was the good think about having a force bond.

"Meet back here in one hour," Ahsoka commanded the other two, "and keep an eye out for imperials!" He nodded as she walked out of the ship and to the west while she went east. She pulled her hood over her head, the last thing she needed was some imperial recognizing her not they they knew who she was on sight. The air here smelled bad, like old mining equipment but she could ignore the stench for the mission she was on. Her eyes were shifting through the crowds searching for the familiar face. She had made sure the robe she wore was similar to what the natives wore here, but she was sure here padawan had not thought about it. Ri-En prepared for situations by reading about planets and mentally focusing her mind on her missions. Certain little details escaped her.

Ahsoka thought back to a mission they had gone on months before to recover supplies for the rebels. The girl had forgotten to bring her lightsaber, and when they had a run in with imperials she used the force to fight against them. She was quite adept at many Jedi force techniques but when it came to lightsaber combat she did little more than defend against her enemies. She had told her master once that she hated lightsabers because they were hard to use. It really was Ahsokas fault that this had happened, she hadn't spent enough time training her padawan due to the fact she was constantly helping with the rebellion.

When she did get a chance to work with Ri-En on her lightsaber techniques she had trouble figuring out which fighting style would work best for her. She didn't like the backwards style that Ahsoka had used when she was young, but she also didn't seem to adapt to any lightsaber forms well. She had fallen into the habit of using the force or a lightsaber, she had not been able to adapt to using them both together. So naturally she fell back to force combat techniques because her lightsaber fighting was lacking.

She was going over this in her head now because she felt something now. The new Sith was on this planet and she was searching for Ri-En. The thought that Ri-En was incomplete in her combat training frightened Ahsoka now, but being her master and being one of the top leaders of the rebels made everything difficult. Siri should never have left and Ahsoka should never have let her. If she had just stayed then they could have looked for Obi-Wan together and Ri-En could have been trained by her mother not the girl who never even achieved the rank of Jedi knight.

If Siri had stayed, then Ahsoka was certain she wouldn't have had to chase after Ri-En now. She had to find the girl soon if they were going to get out of here unnoticed. Ahsoka saw storm troopers patrolling the settlement, now was not a good time for her padawan to be here but she could feel she was close. Ri-En would walk right into the middle of the danger without a second thought as if she was invincible. That was another problem with having early advanced force abilities. Somewhere in this town she would find her. She just hoped she was not too late.

* * *

Pons Ora was larger than Ri-En had expected it to be, large enough that her and Anakin moved swiftly avoiding the notice of the locals but they still had not seen a majority of the settlement. She had seen a couple storm troopers meandering about and wondered if it was any safer here than it was anywhere else on the planet, not that they had a choice. They needed a ship or a ride to get off the planet. Now she sat patiently waiting hidden in an alley while Anakin was looking for a ship to hire to get off the planet. R6 was with Anakin so she was quite alone for now and she was shielding herself with the force like he had instructed her to.

She had mostly slept on the rest of the speeder ride over due to how tired she was, it had taken them about 6 hours to get here. After that they had argued about whether she should hide her or go with him, he said she didn't look enough like the natives and she stood out where as he had spent years blending in with people on this planet. She couldn't really argue with that point so she waited here while he sorted things. She didn't really like waiting, especially not with so many enemies so close. She wondered what her master was doing now. No doubt she was trying to figure out where Ri-En was, maybe it was safe enough to reach into the force for a moment to see if she was okay. She wondered how happy Ahsoka would be when she saw that her master was alive, after all this time he was still alive.

Her master was always very good at hiding her emotions, she shut Ri-En out of most of what she felt about what was going on around them. There was only one emotion that Ri-En knew Ahsoka felt when she brought up the topic of Anakin, and that was regret. She also knew that regret came from the truth that she had left him behind when she had left the Jedi order. He had stood by her and she hadn't been strong enough to stand by him. At least that was how she had put it once when she had her guard down.

Ri-En had never really known how her master felt about her parents and their need to keep searching despite her strongly held belief that Anakin was indeed gone. She hadn't had much of a choice in letting them go. They had just left.

She had grown up in space, going wherever Ahsoka went and constantly being in danger and never really having much of a chance to be normal. It had been exciting when she had met the ghost crew. Having two other Jedi around made her feel less alone and interacting with the group was like having a family around. They all had been kind to her from the start. She was excited to bring back hope to them.

She was getting tired of waiting, Anakin had said he would be back within a half hour but already she felt like an hour had passed though she couldn't be certain. She was concerned about the person who might have been tailing them. The Sith lord was back at that other settlement, she couldn't have followed them here if she didn't know where to go. Maybe there were inquisitors but Ri-En could take them, she had spent a lot of time practicing fighting with just the force.

"Lord Taris said to wait here," it was if just thinking about the inquisitors brought them near, she knew their voices well from the times she had fought them. Her and Ezra had been on a mission with Kanan a couple weeks back and they had been found by inquisitors then too. It was fun enough to outwit them and escape but she was getting a little sick of running into them. They seemed to have a way of being everywhere that the Jedi were.

"We've seen no sign of the Jedi," a female voice said. Well they hadn't spotted her in town yet, that was good. She hoped Anakin would stay away until these two left. She wanted to get off this planet without any incidents.

"No," the male voice responded, "but I felt something near here. They have to be here. Lord Taris is on her way and we'd better have results before she gets here. I'm going to search the other side of town, you stay here and watch for the child." Great, this wasn't going to be easy now. She wanted to get out of here and find Anakin but he had told her to wait here. He didn't know there would be tons of storm troopers over here. Maybe she should just taken initiative. That was when she realized there was a robot flying over her, she froze trying to stay as still as possible but it turned and looked straight to her. It sounded an alert right before she tore it in half with the force. She heard footsteps, there was no point in hiding anymore. She jumped up.

"Hello there," Ri-En spoke boldly as she stepped out of the shadows into the street. The female inquisitor turned to face her a sly smile reaching her face, this was the girl who she had seen weeks before and she seemed to recognize Ri-En.

"So you decided to make this easy on me," the inquisitor said turning away and waving to the storm troopers, "bring her." Ri-En knew exactly what she was doing using the force she tore two blasters away from two of the storm troopers, she leapt away from their stun blasts and used the force to send large crates careening into a few of them. She force pushed another two back all while dodging their shots. She then expended more energy force pushing two into each other. All and all 12 storm troopers were lying around and the inquisitor turned a little surprised at what Ri-En had done so quickly. In their last encounter the young Jedi had done very little besides run while her friends fought against her. For some reason this Jedi girl didn't seem inclined to use a lightsaber.

"I see we're going to have to do things a little bit differently," the inquisitor said taking out her own lightsaber. There were people in the settlement running about in shock. Ri-En focused on her enemy and leapt away from the inquisitors first blow. The inquisitor pushed at her with the force but she was fast enough to avoid it sending her own power pushing the inquisitor into the wall. Who needed a lightsaber? Ri-En thought she could fight just fine without one.

"You're going to have to do better than that if you want me," Ri-En taunted leaping away again, but she made an error. She was now in the alley way and the only good escape would be to climb, something that she hated. She needed time, she focused into the force around her closing her eyes, blocking out all distractions. She could feel the force flowing through her.

"You're but a child," the inquisitor said stepping closer to Ri-En, "you think just because you know a few moves that you can escape me." Ri-En opened her eyes then with a strong assurance.

"Yes," Ri-En said, "I do believe I can escape you." She then unleashed what she had gathered from the force pushing the inquisitor out of the alleyway and far enough to give herself an escape route. With the way clear she started to run but the inquisitor was fast as well. She leapt in front of Ri-En causing Ri-En to stumble backwards. She reached out with the force grabbing a nearby crate and sending it toward the inquisitor who just batted it away with the force.

"I am tired of dealing with you," the woman said holding up her lightsaber to strike as Ri-En used the force to push her lightsaber away. The inquisitor wasn't expect to be thrown back as Ri-En stood up, hands ready to keep moving.

It was then that someone jumped in front of her as the inquisitor jumped toward her red blade collided with a blue one as Ri-En reacted releasing the force push she had prepared knocking down both her enemy and her ally. Ri-En looked up to see Kanan quickly jumping up off the ground and looking at her in shocked.

"Sorry!" Ri-En called a bit more than surprised to see him there. He didn't really have time to react as the inquisitor was on him.

"You never know when to let up, do you?" Kanan asked the inquisitor as he blocked her lightsaber blows.

"I wasn't expecting to see you!" she exclaimed in her defense.

"You should have let us take the girl," the woman said back throwing more force into her blows. Ri-En then saw some storm troopers moving from the other side of the street, there were so many of them around here. Evidently Kanan saw them too.

"Run! Ri-En get out of here!" Kanan shouted at her and she listened taking off into the market while he held off the forces behind her. She didn't get very far when she ran right into Anakin who looked at her surprised then back at the other Jedi who was fighting the inquisitor as well as dodging shots from the three storm troopers who had come into the vicinity. He looked at Ri-En and wondered if that was why he felt the force moving. She had been using it. He then saw all the storm troopers scattered on the ground, each knocked out with the force. This girl wasn't using a lightsaber but it appeared her friend was.

"Why don't you have a lightsaber?" he asked before he could stop himself.

"R6 had it! Who needs a lightsaber anyways?" Ri-En declared. That was something uncharacteristic to hear from someone who considered themselves a Jedi.

"Are you sure you're Obi-Wan's daughter?" He asked remembering all the times Obi-Wan scolded him for loosing his lightsaber. It was comical to him that this girl left her lightsaber in her droid on purpose and she seemed to have some disdain for the weapon.

"That's what they told me," she spoke with a smile but she kept looking at the other Jedi. It appeared the other Jedi needed his help, he turned to R6 who had come with him to retrieve the girl.

"Get her to the ship," he said to the droid, "I will be right behind you. Hurry!" Ri-En paused she didn't want to leave him but his orders were clear, it couldn't be that far. It was then that she realized Anakin was no longer dressed in his sand colored clothing, he was now wearing dark Jedi robes and as he walked toward the fight he pulled out his lightsaber. That must have been what was in the box all along, the remnants of who he was before. Her droid was beeping and she hurried after him, Anakin and Kanan could handle themselves she just wondered if anyone else had come.

* * *

Anakin didn't recognize the Jedi he had jumped into defend but the Jedi seemed to recognize him with a couple shocked looks. Maybe this was Ri-En's master. The inquisitor seemed shocked at the approach of yet another Jedi but she didn't recognize him. She pulled her arm communicator up using the force to try and push them back but Anakin was able to block it with a good force wall.

"I need immediate assistance," she yelled fast into it, "there are three Jedi, I repeat there are three Jedi!" Anakin launched into his attack at her using the force to push her to the ground he held her there for a second before she was able to escape his move. She stumbled as he swiped at her with his lightsaber.

Kanan was fast dashing right in to stop her as she tried to rush away from the new Jedi. She was beginning to see that she was outmatched against Anakin's fighting style and she wouldn't last much longer against two of them.

* * *

Taris heard the message and she nodded to her commanders to send more troops to aid the weak inquisitor. She wondered which three Jedi she was dealing with, the girl was obviously valuable enough that her friends had come to retrieve her. What luck to stumble upon so many Jedi in one place. Her troops could deal with the others, but now she was completely focused on the girl whose distress was a beacon in the force calling to Taris. She didn't need much backup for this. She walked onto the street and saw the girl running with a violet astro droid leading her. She stretched out with the force pushing the girl back onto the ground. She looked shocked as she stared up at Taris.

"Well, well, well," Taris spoke letting her words sing her victory over the girl, "it seems I have finally caught up with you." Ri-En looked around as troops were circling. She couldn't get out of here on her own but she could alert her friends. She focused.

"Bring her," Taris said to the troops but as she turned the girl let out a large wave of the force energy at none other than the Sith in front of her. Taris fell to the ground and turned glaring at the girl. She stood up slowly as the girl started lashing out with the force against her troops. They were helpless as she dodged their blaster bolts and she used the force alone to take out all 8 of them. Taris was angry now, those useless storm troopers couldn't event stop a child.

"Your inquisitor thought that simple storm troopers could take me too," Ri-En said now, "you were both wrong." Taris glared at her.

* * *

Anakin sliced the inquisitors lightsaber to pieces in no time and the weak excuse for an assassin fled fast. The other Jedi had backed away now fully letting himself absorb the shock of the man in front of him. Anakin was still focused on how the fight with the woman was way too easy, there was a shift in the force again.

"You are," Kanan said in shock stumbling over his words, "You're Skywalker!" Anakin rolled his eyes, he wasn't going to get used to the shocked looks people were going to have anytime soon.

"Apparently," Anakin responded but he had no time to say anything else because a whole lot of storm troopers were coming from both sides of the street. He and Kanan had their backs to each other now, it was just like old times fighting alongside another Jedi. He hoped that Ri-En had gotten to the ship safely. The girl had a good head on her shoulders, he believed she could make it.

"Now would be a good time to tell me your name," Anakin said as he evaluated the troops in front of him.

"It's Kanan," The man responded.

"Well then," Anakin said with a smile, "let's teach them not to mess with Jedi."

* * *

"I can sense your fear child," Taris said and Ri-En had no idea why she was calling her child when she herself didn't seem that much older. "I can sense your anger, your pain. It seethes from you." Ri-En stood up slowly, wary of the enemy in front of her, the Sith had her lighsaber out and ignited it the red blade glowing sinisterly. She was staring at Ri-En looking into her eyes. "It doesn't have to be this way. I can end your fear, replace it with power."

"Stay away from me! I don't want anything from you!" Ri-En said lividly as she felt R6 launch her lightsaber into the air she used the force to catch it and turned on the blade. It was violet, glowing beautifully much like her mothers had been. She hated the feeling of the weapon in her hand, she knew this wasn't going to end well but she had to buy time.

She knew her master had taught her that form II was the best way to fight a Sith but she didn't even know if she was holding her lightsaber correctly to do that. She still remembered when she had built it, the moment had been so wonderful to her. Little did she know she would come to despise the need for the weapon because she hardly knew how best to use it. Her master scolded her many times telling her she needed to fight with the force and the lightsaber together. It never seemed to work for her.

"Do you even know how to use that?" the Sith asked picking up on the girls confusion of how to hold the lightsaber.

"I know enough," Ri-En said before rushing swiping at the woman who easily blocked her blows and spun her lightsaber away like it was a minor nuisance. Ri-En found herself stumbling back as she avoided the Sith's own blows. She reached into the force leaping high over the woman and slicing at her, but she was around in no time and quickly blocking at Ri-En's clumsy attacks.

Ri-En soon realized the Sith was just toying with her, and that as she had thought earlier she was nowhere near ready for this battle. At that moment she realized she could feel her master, Ahsoka was coming. She must have landed with Kanan, somehow they had both known to come for her. She just had to hold out. She gathered the force around her rushing again to face her enemy.

The Sith woman was ready for the girls clumsy formless attacks and easily blocked them when the girl reached out with the force to push her away. She reached out her own hand pushing back and causing the girl to fly back while she stumbled back a little. Taris smiled as the girl looked up to see her lightsaber had fallen a distance from her. She reached for it in the force as she stood up, the Sith almost to her.

Before Ri-En could react the woman pushed her to the ground with the force and held her there. She felt her body going numb at this woman's grip on her. It was as if there was a hand around her throat as she suddenly found herself unable to breathe and as unconsciousness threatened she fought back throwing everything she had into escaping the grip. The woman was shocked as Ri-En threw her force attack off and turned fast reaching with her arm and crying out in the force with all her might before everything went black.

* * *

The last storm trooper had fallen when Anakin heard it, the cry of Ri-En so powerful in the force that he instinctively reached his hands up to cover his ears. Kanan felt it too stumbling from the shock of it as if felt like the planet around them was shaking for the powerful cry.

Anakin saw flashes of the Sith Lord standing over Ri-En, talking Ri-En alive into a shuttle. He should never have left her alone.

"NO!" Anakin cried out taking off running. He ran as fast as he could through the streets and as he reached the place where he had seen the shuttle he saw it in the distance, too far away. That woman had taken Ri-En with her, she was gone. It was then that he heard a beeping as R6 came rolling up to him beeping, whirling and making every noise he could make about how Ri-En had been taken. Anakin looked at his hands, he was still holding his lightsaber, he dropped it and fell to his knees. After all these years he was still not strong enough to protect people. This girl had put her life on the line to find him and he had failed her.

* * *

 **I noticed a few typos in previous chapters so I really read through this one more and I hope I caught them all. So action packed, the story is moving now! Thanks for reading, please leave a Review!**

 **Review! Review!**

 **AWinterChill**


	7. Beginnings: Bittersweet

**Warning: This chapter contains some torture. Though I try to be pretty tame with my content I'm not sure if this would drive the rating up in any way.**

 **Chapter 7 - Bittersweet**

* * *

Siri shivered as she awoke in the dark from a sound in the force that filled her with dread. It was unmistakable that she had just heard her daughter screaming out in the force as if something terrible was about to happen. There had been so much movement in the force around her over the past few days and she found herself wondering what had changed. She had just wanted to save Obi-Wan, she didn't know what she might have caused by leaving her own child behind. Obi-Wan hadn't seemed angry about it, he had welcomed her help but when he was taken she knew that he would have wanted her to go back. That was something she couldn't do until she really saved him.

For now she knew that sound had pierced her heart as it reminded her of what she had lost when she left her daughter. She would find no more rest this night. She got up and quickly changed into something more suitable for the swamps around her. Her last failure on Mustafar had been challenging for her, she had been unable to get any information on where they were keeping him or even why. She knew that on Degobah she would be able to get her head together and the boy with her would be able to rest.

"Troubled you are," she heard the voice of the master she now had shelter with. Yoda was always a strange Jedi but over the past few years she had found his teachings to be the only thing keeping her sane. Though he was rapidly aging from the strain the last few years had caused on him, he was still as insightful as ever. She should have known he would sense that something was happening as well.

"It's Ri-En," Siri said, reminding herself of her daughters name and the hope that she had carried the day her child was born. "Something's happening, she is in danger."

"Sense this, I have," Yoda said calmly walking to stand beside her. He had been considering a great many things in the force lately, Siri could see it on his face. He definitely understood more about what was happening around them than she did. Siri couldn't get the dread out of her system, she still remembered her child's face when she had told her she was leaving. She was 14 now and Siri had missed so much by the path she had chosen.

"Will she be alright?" Siri let her voice speak what was weighing on her. "I've been unable to save Obi-Wan, it would be difficult to let go of loosing her as well." She remembered a time when it was impossible to voice the level of care she held for the two people she now called her family, a time when attachment was forbidden. It was still odd to tell the Jedi master exactly what she was feeling but he had proven over the past few years that he did not look down upon her choices.

"Alright, she will be," Yoda spoke his reassurance now, "sensed I have that there are other forces at play. The chosen one, returned he has." Siri looked at Yoda now the surprise evident on her face. Obi-Wan had lost so much on the search for Anakin, his return would make that mean something. If his return had something to do with Ri-En then maybe he could help her.

"I should never have left her," Siri said shaking her head. It was that regret that she seemed to be unable to escape.

"Dwell on the past, you must not," Yoda predictably responded, "had you stayed the boy, lost to the dark side he would have been. We do not understand the force, nor it's reason. In your hands, Ri-En's destiny is not." She knew what he was saying was true. Even as a small child Ri-En was very strong with the force, and she knew the girl would have some important role to play in what was coming.

For now Siri looked back to the home where the boy Obi-Wan had saved so many years ago was resting. She hadn't taken him on her last mission, she thought he needed more time to rest but he would probably want to go out with her on the next one. Obi-Wan had told her he was important but he hadn't given her much information, he was important enough that Obi-Wan had risked his life for him many times. The boy seemed to know his own past but he did not share it with her. This boy was also very strong in the force, stronger perhaps than Ri-En. His name was Luke.

* * *

Anakin reached out in the force calling Ri-En's fallen weapon too him as he surveyed the damage the girl had done and it seemed she was far more dangerous without the lightsaber than he would have expected. Many of the Storm troopers had cleared the area but some were still here, dead. They had been taken out easily by that girl. The people in the settlement were in an uproar and he did not think that would die down soon. This planet had been quiet for 15 years, and suddenly there was an empire presence and Jedi running around.

He was angry at the circumstances around him, he felt that anger flowing through him. He knew he needed to let the anger go so that he could think clearly but it was this kind of anger that gave him strength. He was already formulating a plan, but he would need Kanan's backup and whatever ship he had brought. He was going after Ri-En, that was his goal and purpose now. He was certain the Sith had taken the girl to lure the other Jedi into a trap, but she had no idea what she was dealing with. She had no idea what Anakin was capable of. He felt a presence in the force approaching and turned expecting to see the Jedi, Kanan but he was not prepared for the person who he did see.

The first thought in his mind was how much she had grown, the last time he had seen her she was 17. The last time he had seen her she had left the order, and then disappeared far away from him. She had left everyone behind with nothing but sorrow for being unable to protect her. It had been her own choice to give up her position as a Jedi because she was so lost and so unable to fathom the world around her. What he saw in her now was strength and assurance, she had worked her way through her confusion and now she was here. Her very presence tempered the anger of the situation around him, because he had never thought he would see her again.

She was staring at him as if he was going to disappear right in front of her, like she thought this was a vision and not the reality she felt it was. She had spent so long telling others that he had died, working to convince herself that he was gone because she didn't dare hope that he could have survived. Now here he was, a testament to Ri-En's belief that their chosen one would not leave the world in such darkness. Tears were streaming down her face now as she ran to him and embraced him, and in that action Anakin could see the girl that was once his padawan. No matter what the years had done to her she was still what he remembered. He could understand her fear and her heartache from all the years fighting alone. She had thought he was gone for so long, she had lost hope.

"You're alive," were the first words that came out of her mouth, "I didn't believe you could be. I was so sure I lost you."

"I'm sorry Ahsoka," He couldn't really explain why he had left them all in the dark but he didn't really want anyone to come after him. Now that they were here he realized how much he missed them and he regret not running to them when he was in need of help. He had dealt with it all alone. "I'm sorry I never protected you like I should have."

"I didn't need you to protect me," she said now clearly crying, "I just wanted you back. We all did." She now was thinking of Ri-En the girl who never lost hope in the face of loosing her parents to the same quest she succeeded at. She had never even met Anakin yet she never gave up on him. Now she remembered her anger, she was angry that Ri-En had been forced to go through all this just to get one man back. That was all his fault. He was shocked when she let go of him and without warning slapped him. He had definitely not expected that.

"What was that for!" He protested, he was shocked at her actions but then again this was Ahsoka he was talking to. He then saw Kanan running around the corner, he was just in time to witness their reunion go south.

"You should be sorry! What you did was terrible!" she said angrily now. "You severed your bonds with the people who cared about you, and running away to this awful planet! What is wrong with you! You let us think you were dead! We mourned you! It's because of you Ri-En ran away and came down to this place. Do you realize how worried I've been the past few days?" She meant every word she said, she was glad he was alive but she was angry at him for how he had let them mourn him, and she knew she would get over it but she needed at least one moment of anger.

"I had to!" Anakin exclaimed, "I had to let all of you go!" He didn't want the memories of what happened to effect him now, he held them down as she seemed unsatisfied with his answers.

"Why," Ahsoka shouted back now, "give me one good reason why you had to do that to us? Do you even know how we mourned you? Do you realize we lost hope?"

"Obi-Wan never lost hope," Anakin countered with what he had heard from Ri-En. Her father had spent his time searching even though Anakin clearly didn't want to be found.

"Then why keep hiding from him?" Ahsoka searched his eyes as she spoke, looking for any hint of emotion that showed he wanted to return to them.

"You wouldn't understand," he spoke turning away, she knew that was him deflecting, he hadn't changed that much at all.

"What wouldn't I understand?" Ahsoka asked now, "that you abandoned us? You were the chosen one, you were supposed to destroy the Sith not run away and hide the moment they made their move for power." He looked at her now and she was sure she saw a sadness in his eyes, he let it fade and he ignored her words. She would never understand what he had done and why he had run. _Padme_ , the name still echoing in his soul, the person he had lost. He had to let it go, he couldn't let it all distract him now when Ri-En's life was on the line. He didn't know much about the world they were in now but he knew that in the short time he had known Ri-En he knew that he had to protect her. For Obi-Wan if for nothing else, maybe a bit for the memory of Padme. She would have wanted him to do this for his friends.

"That's not important now," Anakin spoke quickly and she saw his expression darken as it always did when someone he cared about was in danger, "the Sith in training took Ri-En." Ahsoka dropped her anger at him now now because there were more important things to discuss.

"I know," she replied the sadness returning, "I felt her screams in the force, I think every Jedi in the universe felt that but that doesn't change the fact that we will have this discussion later. After we get Ri-En back you are going to tell me why you did what you did Anakin Skywalker!" There was no denying the flood of emotions that Ahsoka was feeling, he would never have expected this.

"So she's really is Obi-Wan's daughter," Anakin spoke just wanting to hear the confirmation from someone else.

"Yeah she really is," Ahsoka replied realizing that Ri-En had really found him herself and she had told him who she really was, "I was there when she was born, I've taken care of her all these years."

"Wait a minute," he said when he made the connection, "you're Ri-En's master, now this whole thing makes sense. She definitely wasn't acting like Obi-Wan, I should have known you've been training her." Ahsoka nodded, he had figured that one out like the genius he was, she thought that sarcastically. Though she was very happy he was alive her mind was forming the questions she was going to drill him with later.

"So what's the plan," Kanan spoke up now trying to get the conversation back on what was important, he had been hanging back from their reunion because he knew how he would feel if his master turned out to really be alive. Still he didn't not expect Ahsoka to be so hostile to him.

"Why doesn't Ri-En know how to use a lightsaber?" Anakin asked Ahsoka, obviously ignoring Kanan.

"She knows how to use one," Ahsoka countered a little annoyed at him, "she just doesn't know how to use one well. She has a problem, and that is that she is too good at using the force. It limits her because she doesn't see a need to apply herself to lightsaber training. We've also been working really hard to keep the rebellion in line! It's hard to find time to train!" Kanan knew this discussion should be held for later but the former master and apprentice seemed to want to air some of their differences out right here.

"That doesn't matter!" Kanan exclaimed now, he wasn't going to sit here and listen to these two. "I can here and left my own padawan with the alliance to get Ri-En back! If we don't leave soon the star destroyer cloud hit hyperspace and then Ri-En will be long gone!" They stopped and looked at him, both of them knowing what he said was true.

"I already have a plan," Anakin declared coldly walking down the street, turning momentarily to toss a communicator to Ahsoka. She caught it easily but she was confused by his demeanor.

"Wait!" Ahsoka exclaimed, "aren't you going to let us in on it?" Anakin turned and shrugged.

"Just get into space and wait for my signal," he said waving his hand as he continued walking. He was absolutely determined to get Ri-En back without further exposing himself to Palpatine. Once this was all over he knew he would have to decide. Leave them all behind again or really join in their fight, and his mind was still leaning toward the first option.

"Does he always act like this?" Kanan asked her, he had never met Skywalker himself but he had heard that he was one of the most effective Jedi, if not the most brutal one. Ahsoka seemed to watch him with a sad expression on her face. She realized that something was different in him, a darkness and she wasn't sure what to make of it. He had gone through so much during the Clone Wars and when she left she was certain things had gotten even worse. Of course they had gotten worse, the Jedi temple had fallen and almost everyone she knew had died.

"He's a bit of a hothead," Ahsoka responded looking toward the way to the Ghost, "We'd better get back to Hera. She'll be wondering what happened to us by now."

* * *

It was cold, very cold like the darkness in space. That was what she noticed first, the second thing was that her arms were in pain and she could barely feel her hands. What was happening, she kept trying to open her eyes by everything was hazy. She was aware now that she was hanging up by her arms, all that was below her was black. She felt a drumming in her head, the air around her was stale. Where was she.

Ri-En's eyes opened as she suddenly remembered fighting the Sith, she had lost rather quickly and the girl had brought her here. She took a few deep breaths trying to clear her mind but there was something wrong around her. She couldn't feel much beyond the dark side of the force and it was frightening. It was then that she realized she wasn't alone and the darkness she felt was from the same Sith who had brought her here. She closed her eyes as if willing this all to end, she just wanted to go home. Why did that woman have to follow her to Abafar?

"Good you're finally awake," the Sith said picking up on the truth that Ri-En was conscious. Her voice was hardened and bitter, almost as if she had seen something she didn't like on the surface. Ri-En smiled, this girl had made an error bringing her here.

"Where are we?" Ri-En let slip out of her mouth what she was wondering. The Sith lord or lady, whatever she wanted to call herself, came into view and the girls eyes had a yellowish tint to them, they were brown before.

"We are on my Star Destroyer," the Sith responded rather callously, something had happened the girl didn't like, "We would be in hyperspace right now had my master not informed me that you were not a big enough prize to warrant my leaving just yet." The woman was holding some sort of remote and she seemed to be prepared to do something to Ri-En.

"You have no idea what you have done," Ri-En said to the girl, she knew she had to be brave now and to let go of all fear. "You would have been better off leaving." The woman raised her eyebrows.

"Why because of the three Jedi on the planet below?" the Sith girl asked with a laugh, "they are but a mere inconvenience to me. They didn't do a very job of protecting you did they?" Ri-En stiffened, she hadn't wanted to hear. She knew any thoughts of doubt would undermine her resolve not to reveal anything. She had to be as strong as possible to withstand any emotional attacks this girl would wage against her. Ri-En held her tongue from a few less than pleasant remarks she had for the Sith. It would do her no good in this sort of situation to fan the woman's hatred. The woman's eyes were fixed on her as if searching for something in her, Ri-En would give her nothing."

"Why are you even here?" Ri-En spat now, "don't you have something better to do than taunt me? Who are you?"

"Oh," Taris said with a smile, "I am sorry for my rudeness, I never introduced myself. I know who you are but you don't know who I am. I am Darth Taris, Sith apprentice to Darth Sidious. He chose me out of a school filled with gifted children because I had talents that were much beyond theirs. As to why I am here, it seems your friends caused a bit of a problem for my inquisitors on Abafar." Ri-En didn't speak, she was interested in what this woman had to say. "You seen when we encounter Jedi such as your friends Kanan and Ezra, we document their names and our encounters with them. We do our best to figure out their history and use it against them. That has been a puzzle with you since you never seemed to have another identity outside of Ri-En, Ahsoka's apprentice." Ri-En was surprised now that Taris had dropped the names of all her Jedi friends.

"You nailed it," Ri-En replied, "that's all I am." Taris didn't seem to care what Ri-En said and internally Ri-En was glad that was all they knew about her.

"What I need from you," Taris said now getting right to the point, "is the identity of that new and rather skilled Jedi that destroyed my inquisitor in combat. You know the one, with the dark blonde curls and the rugged war torn features." Ri-En froze, she focused on her training and buried her thoughts. The Sith's face was filled with hatred directed right toward her now. She was searching Ri-En's face for anything she could use against her. Ri-En knew she had this girl beat in a match with pure force strength, that was all Ri-En had trained for all these years.

Taris seemed to see her resolve so she held up the remote hitting a button. It felt like fire was coursing through her veins, tearing her apart from the inside. She tried to hold it back but she cried out at the sudden pain flowing through her. It felt like forever when the woman stopped it. There was a gleeful smile on the Sith's face as she relished putting this girl through this pain.

"Now," Taris said with the same smile, "let's see if you co-operate more. Who is the other Jedi?" Ri-En hadn't ever been tortured before, she felt out of her mind at the shock of the pain. Taris wasn't going to let up on his identity.

"I'm never going to tell you anything!" Ri-En exclaimed anger coursing through her, "do your worst." Taris hadn't expected the girl to put up such fight, her master was desperate for this information and she would have to force it out of the girl one way or another. She did have one order though, she wasn't allowed to kill the girl until she had the other three Jedi in custody. Even Taris was a little doubtful about catching all three.

"I think I can change your mind," Taris spoke almost like it was a song this time as she hit the button again but this time she also reached out with the force. The pain ripped through Ri-En again and this time she couldn't breathe as Taris used the force to choke her. Ri-En saw spots in her vision as she fought to stay awake and that fight was what made her strong. She cried out again but this time she cried out with all her strength. Taris wasn't expecting it as the binders on her wrist stopped projecting the energy and she was thrown back by a blast of the force. The child was stronger than she looked. Ri-En was shaking from the force energy that had just expelled from her, she hadn't even known that she could do that. If the Sith was angry before it was nothing to how she looked now.

"Well if that's how you want to play," Taris said now, "I'll be sure to make sure you get a front row seat when I kill your master!" With that Taris left, Ri-En then let the tears fall from her eyes. She knew that Anakin and Ahsoka would come for her and when they did they would be walking right into a trap.

* * *

 **So that's all I have for now. The updates might slow down for the rest of the week. I am very busy for the next few days all day,**

 **So please Review, Review, Review. I thrive off reviews!  
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 **Thank you to all those of you who are Reviewing!**

 **AWinterChill**


	8. Beginnings: Vader

**Chapter 8 - Vader**

* * *

Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering. That was something that master Yoda seemed to constantly prattle off about and it was something that Anakin was always reminded of when he found himself fearing for the life of someone he cared about it. The Jedi had always tried to teach him to put away his feelings but he didn't understand how to do so as the Jedi masters did. In his exile he formed the opinion that the detachment of the Jedi masters was the reason for their undoing. The couldn't see the chaos around them because they didn't allow themselves to feel for anyone around them. They valued compassion over passion and so they were apathetic about their own state of being.

Emotion had always been the bane on Anakins journey as a Jedi. The condescending looks he got from the masters so often centered around his inability to let go of what he loved and what he hated. He was considered too aggressive, too reckless and too self destructive; despite all this they could never deny how powerful he was. He knew that the Jedi order valued him during the clone wars. His unconventional ways made him the perfect Jedi to fight in a war but they also knew that when peacetime returned Anakin would become restless. Now in the 15 years of isolation he sought to find inner balance but he knew he was going to continue to struggle with perfecting that balance as was about to be pulled back into the fighting. He wasn't sure he was strong enough to really join into the fray again and he knew before it was all over he would have to confront the dark inside of him and the truth of what he had done.

He was driven now by the emotions that had always plagued him, the anger that had always fueled him, to fight for the child who believed in him. He had stowed away on an imperial shuttle to get up to the star destroyer and once aboard he went to work carefully and slowly. He rigged the cameras on the exact hangar bay he knew would be a good escape route. He disconnected the tractor beam and a few other pieces of equipment the large ship used to destroy it's enemies. He was surprised just how similar the starships were to the republic ships he used to command. That made them easier for a Jedi to tamper with.

Having a strong force shield meant that the inquisitors on the ship were blind to him, as was the young Sith girl. Now he just had to make his call to Ahsoka and take over his blind hangar without giving a single storm trooper a chance to alert the rest of the ship. That was sure to be fun. He had the plan outlined after that, he needed R6 and Ahsoka to complete it. He was aware of the fight ahead and after 15 years he was certain he had lost none of his edge.

He swiftly reached an over look for the hangar and took out the communicator. The hears didn't matter he knew that if anything the years of isolation and meditation had made him much stronger because he was much more tuned to the force than he had been before. The Sith here was too young to really be a threat though he had felt in the village below that she had the potential to become much stronger.

"Anakin?" he heard Ahsoka's voice come up on the line after what felt like a long time. It was just like old times, working with his former padawan on a daring mission where the odds seemed against them. This time he knew the odds were in his favor, the empire hadn't faced a Jedi like him in a very long tie.

"Make you approach at hangar bay 4 within 5 minutes," Anakin spoke quickly, "I will have it cleared by the time you get here." He then shut off the communicator not giving her time to respond. He didn't really want to be asked a lot of questions right now.

Anakin then dropped down behind one of the troops. Another responded yelling and firing at him, he batted the blaster bolt right back to the storm trooper with his lightsaber and cut down the trooper in front of him with Ri-En's saber. He chose his position well as he was right in front of the hangars communication station and the Storm troopers were all firing at him. Having two lightsabers made this easier as he batted the shots back at the troopers that gracefully leaped through the room slicing the rest of them, blue and violet light glowing through the room.

The hangar was clear and right on time a ship flew in that he assumed belonged to Ahsoka and her friends. The ships ramp opened and R6 rolled out before the two Jedi came both looking ready for the fight ahead. Ahsoka didn't look pleased with being left out of the plans details but she did trust him to come up with something that would work. There was a nagging feeling in her mind that he had been out of the game for too long.

"So what's the rest of your plan?" Ahsoka asked but Anakin held his hand up as if to ask her to stop talking. She was getting a bit irritated at his vague instructions.

"R6, plug in and locate Ri-En," Anakin spoke addressing the droid, "also search to see if there are any other prisoners aboard this ship." He still remembered Ri-En's distraught at the death of the men who got her to the planet but Anakin had a sinking feeling that some of them had been captured alive.

* * *

Taris looked out the main windows on the bridge of her star destroyer, she felt a disturbance in the force around her like a presence that was on the planet was now aboard this ship. She smiled as she realized the Jedi were either near or already on the ship and they had come as she wanted them too. She flipped her brown braids as she evaluated her bridge crew, they would be almost useless in a fight against Jedi. Of course the Jedi joined her game with subtlety rather than outright attacking her troops, they were outnumbered on this ship and she would have to unravel their plans before they got any edge on her.

"Captain," She said as one of her officers stood up to face her, he was weak and she had wished the Emperor would give her better troops to work with but he wanted her to learn how to make soldiers out of these men. She knew she needed the inquisitors to help her handle the Jedi and she was glad that she had two of them with her. "I believe we are being boarded, put all troops on high alert." She was getting more certain by the second.

"But my Lord," he responded, "We've had all systems on alert and there have been no problems thus so far?" Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him, how dare he question her insight.

"They're here," Taris replied sneering at him, "I can feel it! Dare to question me again and you'll find I can replace you easily." He nodded, taking her full meaning. He had heard stories of Taris's temper before. She had killed one of her tutors before when he tried to make her do something she found distasteful. She always got what she wanted and if someone denied her anything she just took it. "Now give the orders and put all hangars on alert as well."

"Yes my Lord," he bowed as he walked to give the command. Taris knew what her next play would be, she had to capture the strongest Jedi at the least and the others would cave easily. She turned and exited the bridge. She had everything ready and she knew her master would not tolerate failure.

* * *

"We've got a location," Ahsoka declared, "there are prisoners being held in block A. Ri-En's location is unknown? They didn't list it?" Anakin's head shot up, he had been patiently waiting for the location and now he realized what kind of game the Sith was playing. They couldn't find Ri-En this way, she was trying to draw him out specifically or Ahsoka. Either way he realized now what had to happen here and he would rather that Ahsoka and Kanan were not there.

"Kanan, stay with the ship and destroy anyone who enters the hangar," Anakin ordered like the general he had once been, "Ahsoka, go and rescue the prisoners." He then started to walk out.

"Got it," Kanan responded, he didn't expect to be doing much in this guys plan anyways. Anakin had forgotten though, that Ahsoka wasn't one to blindly follow orders.

"Wait!" Ahsoka exclaimed, "Ri-En is my padawan, I'm going after her!" Anakin turned back to her, he didn't have time for this. There was a trap coming and he didn't want Ahsoka near it when he blew everything open. After 15 years he was ready to announce himself and she had no idea who he had become or what he had to do. He had to frighten that Sith and to do so he would need his dark side, the side of himself he was afraid of.

"Trust me Ahsoka," he said now appealing to the bond they had once shared and hoping she would understand enough to listen to him. She looked in his eyes now and she couldn't read what was there but she knew him enough to know that he would bring Ri-En back and that was all that mattered now. She wanted to run after the girl but right now what was important was getting everyone out of there. She had the foresight to not let her own desires get in the way of the mission. She nodded and he turned away continuing down his trajectory, following the forces darkside callings. He would have to be careful now not to become the monster he was afraid of.

* * *

"Wake up child," Ri-En heard the voice of Taris, she was out of the chains that had been above her head. She guessed she must have passed out from the exhaustion of hanging like that. Her hands were now bound behind her back, it still hurt. She was on the ground, she looked up to see the Sith girl towering over her, glaring from above. Ri-En wished she could closer her eyes and shut this all out like a bad dream but there was no way to escape what was happening. She hoped she wasn't about to die here, not when she had just gotten a glimmer of hope that she could bring her parents home.

Ri-En felt something in the force and reached out to touch it. She realized what it was, her master was on this ship. They had come for her, that brought her hope and fear at the same time. The Sith probably knew what was going on and Ri-En couldn't do anything to protect them. She felt weak, like she needed food and rest. The Sit reached her hands down and pulled Ri-En up by her hair. The pain was immense, but her whole body was in pain now.

"Your friends have decided to come and rescue you," Taris whispered, she was hoping that her own plan went off without a hitch. This was her chance to prove herself to her master, to prove that he was right to choose her as an apprentice. Ri-En felt tears forming in her eyes as Taris forced her to stand on her feet.

"I'm not surprised," Ri-En found she was able to speak despite the pain, "we both knew they were coming."

"Yes," Taris replied, "but it will all be in vain." Ri-En hoped that what Taris was saying was wrong, she hoped beyond hope that Anakin was with them and that he would fight the way he was always meant to.

* * *

Ahsoka moved swiftly through the halls, still kicking herself that she wasn't going to be the one to go after Ri-En. She knew better than to argue with Anakin but this whole thing was not a situation that she was used to. She ran around a bend when she was met by the sight of 5 storm troopers. She should have known this wasn't going to be anywhere near easy. She deflected their shots and moved in for the kill but not before one had sent something through his com. She sighed, why were there so many Storm troopers on these ships?

After a few more battles in which Ahsoka showed her considerable lightsaber skill she made it to the cell bay. She was wondering now why she had failed Ri-En in lightsaber training the way she had. She clearly didn't have problems fighting with the weapons herself. She opened the cell doors and was happy to find Commander Cody and a few other members of Ri-En's crew inside.

"General Ahsoka!" Cody said with surprise evident in his voice. She surveyed the group.

"I'm glad you guys are still alive," she said, "but we've gotta get out of here!" She was grateful that these people had believed her padawan even when she doubted everything the girl had believed in. In the end Ri-En had been right and she had succeeded in finding Anakin because these men had believed her.

"Did you find Commander Kenobi?" Cody asked as they moved back the way she came. He had called for them to go to the surface to help Ri-En but he realized now that the star destroyer hadn't moved since they got there.

"She was captured," Ahsoka replied, "after her mission turned out to be a success. Anakin is here, he is getting her now." Cody's face lit up, he had wondered if the mission was going to be a success, he believed in Ri-En but he wasn't sure that things were going to work out.

"That girl did it," Cody mused with a fondness over his old commanders daughter. The little girl possessed a goodness and hope that made everyone believe that somehow they were going to win this war.

* * *

Anakin sensed Ri-En's fear first when he entered the large room, it was dark which was a typical place for a Sith to stage a trap. He should know he pretty much became one for a moment there. He looked across the room and saw the Sith, she had Ri-En and her lightsaber was deactivated but pressed right at Ri-En's throat. If the girl activated it then Ri-En was dead, it was a brutal situation in front of him. Kenobi's daughter had her arms tied behind her back and she looked fragile as if she had been tortured and that angered Anakin. She was so young yet she had been dragged into this situation because of him.

"You finally came," the Sith said her brown eyes yellowing a little as she spoke. Anakin realized he felt sympathy for this girl, for he knew how Darth Sidious could twist the mind of a person and this girl was young. She probably had never known anything else but what Sidious had made her into. The hatred and anger was rolling off her in waves and they were cold. This was a glimpse of what he could have been had he not chosen exile.

"You dangled the right bait," Anakin responded noting the inquisitors on either side of him. They must have thought they were well hidden but to him they were clear as day. "So how do you want this to go, my plan was to disarm all of you and take Ri-En but I can see that you have a different idea about how all this is gonna go." Taris was a little confused, she had never met a Jedi that talked the way he did, they always tried to confuse her.

"You will surrender to me," Taris spoke loudly, "or I will kill the girl!" Anakin could see right through her, she was desperate and trying to get him to react but he was calm as he knew what he could do here. For once he wasn't afraid of loosing the person he was trying to save, he knew that he was going to make it out with Ri-En still alive.

"Well neither of those options suit what I want," Anakin glared as he talked, his eyes gazing steadily on Ri-En now. She was weary but she was responding to him by looking back. She knew what he wanted her to do but she was frightened, she might not be of any help here.

"What's your name?" Taris asked now, he was a bit confused but he guessed that none of them knew who he was.

"You think you've won here," Anakin basically ignored her question as he reached out in the force feeling it strong around him. "I can see your two inquisitors. You thought you could take me by threatening her, but I know exactly what is happening here. You are not authorized to kill her, Sidious wants her alive." The Sith eyed him, she could clearly see part of what he was planning. She also knew what he was saying was true but she was a little surprised that he name dropped her master. Few knew him by that name and even fewer were allowed to address him with it. Her suspicious skyrocketed when she looked at him. He was cocky, that was not a normal Jedi trait he was also angry. He had to be the one her master was after and if that was true, she had to kill him.

"Well we can do this differently then," Taris spoke clearly enjoying herself as she pushed a button on her arm. Ri-En's scream tore through the room as electricity tore through her again, she had not been expecting Taris to use it on her again. She wasn't strong enough to fight off the weakness in her any longer. Anakin was shocked as she collapsed unconscious and Taris turned off whatever had gone through the girl. Anger, that was what tore through him now.

"You are going to regret that," Anakin said looking at Taris and what Taris saw was a deep seeded bitterness. This man had touched the dark side of the force and somehow he hadn't been consumed by it.

"I don't allow myself to wallow in regret," Taris spat back, something about her expression made him still feel compassion for her despite what she had just done.

"So are you done with the games?" Anakin's expression was of the deep anger he felt now, he could feel in the force that Ri-En was alive but this battle was now three on one; not that he was worried about the outcome. The girl stepped over Ri-En's body taking two steps toward him, she was confident because she really did have no idea what he was. Lightsabers ignited as he could see from his peripheral the two inquisitors both had double bladed red sabers. That was not helping this fights fairness, but from what he saw they didn't hold them right so they couldn't be very good.

"Oh no," Taris smiled as she felt the darkside energy around her, "The game has just begun." She flipped toward him igniting her saber, he flipped back as the inquisitors had also rushed the fight. They seemed to clash with each other instead of him.

He had his saber as well as Ri-En's ignited fast, the violet and blue blades contrasted with the red ones that were flying at him now. He met their sabers quickly, blocking and countering and moving out of a situation where he would have been surrounded. He was fluid in his movements, almost like he had never taken a break from this. Anger was on his side and he enjoyed it. A few more clashes, he was careful to avoid a hit. He knew that blocking three blades was near impossible with two so he flipped away and formulated his plan.

He was fast away from the group of them and before anyone got close he grabbed at one of the inquisitors with the force. He lifted the inquisitor, chocking him and throwing him on the back wall with as much as he could give it. He heard a crack as the inquisitor fell unconscious and he moved just in time to block the Sith and the other inquisitor. Taris was shocked by the Jedi's move. She had not expected him to be so quick at discarding one of her allies. She had counted on there being three of them to fight him off. What was apparent now was that he was a league ahead of all of them.

"That was a pretty un-Jedi like move," Taris spoke taunting him as he counter her moves and the other inquisitors easily pushing them back off of him. She hoped taunting him would help throw him off as it did with so many other Jedi.

"You'll find I was never much of a good Jedi," Anakin said with a smile. Taris was shocked when he force pulled the other inquisitor toward him and sliced her lightsaber into pieces before pushing her back against the wall, knocking her out as well. Now it was just Taris and this strange Jedi. Hatred coursed through her at the man who dared to defy her. She leapt at him and he dropped Ri-En's saber, he no longer needed it and he was more deadly with his alone. He caught her moves, countering them at her and throwing her back with the strength of his hits.

"Who are you?" Taris asked again striking with as much cunning as she could but he was reading her and throwing her lightsaber out of his way with his own. She was more than out matched. He knew how to use his lightsaber unlike any she had ever fought.

"I'm everything your master fears," Anakin responded, more assurance with his blows as he knocked hard. Her lightsaber flew from her hand and she flipped away reaching in the force for it but Anakin was too fast. He moved his saber in the air, slicing her weapon in half as it flew to her. She was cornered, she tried to run but he caught her with the force. He had a hold around her throat now, the dark side called for him to kill her but he fought it as memories of killing another Sith in a similar way filled him. He would not do it again, he had to fight to not be that monster he knew was in him. The anger was fighting him, begging him to end her. _Padme_. The memory of the face of the one he loved, part of him saying to kill the Sith for her, because Sidious had killed her. The other part of him told him that Padme would not want him to do this, that he had to let her go.

He let her go, she dropped gasping for air before him. The conflict within him settled for now, he had made a step away from the man he didn't want to be. The Sith was frightened and weak now, looking up at him she wondered what had made him the way he was. It was apparent he wasn't going to kill her. He turned to her, so many things in his eyes, so many stories.

"Tell your master that Vader is coming for him," Anakin spoke now knowing that using the name would be enough to leave Sidious more than a little upset. Anakin then strode over to where Ri-En still laid. He knelt down next to her and placed a hand on her head, he could feel that she was alive in the force but her body was exhausted. He had to get her out of this base. He was about to pick her up when the danger around him increased. He turned fast with the force in time to see the Sith rushing at him. He pushed her back into the wall and she fell unconscious. He reminded himself that she had been manipulated just as he almost was, that made it easier to leave her alive. He called Ri-En's lightsaber and clipped it to his belt.

He then returned to Ri-En and picked up the small girl. It was time to return to the ship, it was time to get her home. She had started this whole thing for him and he now knew as he held onto her that it would not be easy to walk away from this child. He felt like she was family and he knew that he would have to make a decision and that Ri-En would effect it.

* * *

 **So battles, battles. My days will once again be busy, so who knows when i will post again. Just letting you guys know I feed off Reviews. SO all those who are reading and not reviewing, I would love to see your reviews just to know what you think so far!**

 **Thanks to all those who have been reviewing!**

 **AWinterChill**


	9. Beginnings: Please

**Chapter 9 - Please**

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 _"Padme!" he shouted, he was frantic. He had rushed from the temple to her apartment, he didn't know what to do. She was in danger as much as he was. His heart was racing, he was sweating and everything around him seemed to be spinning and he could barely breathe from what had just happened around him. His whole world was crashing, the temple was on fire and the life he had known was gone in an instant. It was all his fault. He collapsed on his knees, the exhaustion of the world around him was tearing him to pieces._

 _He didn't mean for this to happen, he didn't mean for any of it to happen. He couldn't get the images out of his head and what was worse was that he could see the smoke rising from the temple from here. He couldn't stop it, he couldn't save them. He didn't even know if Obi-Wan was still alive out there. It was a mess now and Palpatine was alive. He had been so frightened by his visions of Padme's death that he hadn't thought through what would happen if he took extreme measures to try and save her. He had been so blinded by his fear and by his anger that he hadn't seen the truth right in front of him. Tears flowed from his eyes now, he could barely see it when she appeared. His everything, his beautiful wife._

 _"Ani," he could tell from he voice that she was crying as well. She put her arms around him, he buried his head in her as if trying to hide from the world. She had been so worried about him, seeing the smoke from the temple was too much for her to handle. "What happened?"_

 _"What Happened?" Her voice asked again. He was frozen, everything was lost. She didn't let go of him, and he clung to her like she was his lifeline._

 _He couldn't even respond, his mind was frantic willing himself to get her out of there but he could not move. So many dreams had died this day. Their whole world was in shambles; the world they had worked to sustain for so long had gone up in flames around them and there was no way for them to reverse it._

 _So many people had believed that he was the one who would balance the force, he had felt it all himself and now he felt like a fraud. Palpatine had won and it was all because of his actions._

 _"We can't stay here," Anakin finally spoke, a pleading in his voice. His face still pressed to her, his eyes still brimming with tears._

 _She had no idea what to do, she had no idea what was happening around them. All she knew now was that he needed her but she didn't know why the temple was on fire and why the light in the world around her had seemed to die. She also didn't know if she had the strength to do what he said, she had so much work to do in the senate and she wasn't ready to leave until the war had come to an end._

 _"Please," she said to him, "tell me what is going on." He looked into her eyes now and what she saw was a depth of pain that worried her. She had seen him at his worst many times before but that seemed tame compared to the agony that he was in now._

 _He didn't want to tell her, he didn't want to say anything. All he wanted to do now was run away, far away from the fear and anger and hate. He needed to run away from the darkness that seemed to follow him where ever he went. The war had worn him down more than anything before and now he felt like a shadow of who he had always wanted to be. He couldn't save any of those who had been his family and he was out of his mind scarred of loosing the one person who he still had now._

 _He had to get her to agree to run with him, before Palpatine found them. Before he found out that Anakin didn't have the strength to really do what he asked, he couldn't destroy any of them. The darkside coursed around him but he hated how it felt, he didn't want any of it but somehow he couldn't escape it._

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Ri-En's heart beat was steady as Anakin ran through the halls of the star destroyer. He didn't have time to pick a slow sneaky route right now, he had to get her back to the ship before her vitals took a turn for the worse, she was getting weaker in the force. His mind was back in the Sith, she was so broken and fearful that he couldn't help but wonder what Palpatine had done to her to get her to the point of being his apprentice. He could feel that she was very in tune with the force around her, something that was rare in other young dark side acolytes that he had encountered. The force seemed to be secondary to aggressive lightsaber styles.

He felt Ri-En's heart rate slow and that drove him faster, reminding him of the last time he ran through an enemy ship carrying a Kenobi. She was definitely Obi-Wan's daughter he thought of the memory with a bit of anger. They had gone in to save Palpatine before they knew who he was, and he had told Anakin to leave Obi-Wan. It all made so much sense now. He was pulled from his thoughts as he rounded a corner and was shocked to see at least 25 storm troopers standing there. He stopped as they pointed their guns toward him. He couldn't grab his lightsaber while carrying Ri-En.

"Hands up!" one of the storm troopers exclaimed.

"You kidding?" Anakin responded seeing the irony of what they had asked him to do. His mind was working, he had been in tougher situations than this. He shifted his hold on Ri-En. He couldn't make any sudden moves.

"Put the girl down and put your hands in the air," the storm trooper corrected his previous statement. Anakin then knew what he would do.

"Okay, Okay," Anakin said sinking to the ground and gently putting Ri-En down.

"HAND'S UP!" The storm trooper said louder now, Anakin knew their guns were on stun. It was all so dumb, if they stunned him now they would have more of a chance but they had no idea what he could do.

"I know," Anakin spoke, his hands going up and the lightsabers floating to them so fast. The storm troopers opened fire but they were too late. He blocked them, sending the the blasts back to them and he was about to jump in when another figure rushed by him with two white lightsabers glistening. He smiled as Ahsoka cut down storm troopers and he rushed to join in. Together they moved in sync and soon they finished. Anakin turned around to see Cody picking Ri-En up off the ground, there were a few others behind him that were clones and rebels.

"What happened?" Ahsoka asked rushing and putting her hand on Ri-En's forehead, feeling the force of life flowing through the young girl.

"The sith shocked her," Anakin replied.

"With force lighting?" Ahsoka questioned now.

"No," Anakin shrugged as he thought of it, "I don't think the Sith girl is strong enough for that yet, she used some sort of device. She wasn't authorized to kill Ri-En, but she wanted to threaten her to get me to surrender." Ahsoka was glad Anakin had come along on this, he evidently handled the situation well.

"You can tell me all about it when we get back to the ship," Ahsoka responded and he nodded. They turned running back through the halls. When they met resistance they cleared it easily now that Cody was carrying Ri-En and Anakin was free to fight. They soon found themselves back at their ship.

"You guys finally made it," Kanan said smiling as he saw the rebel group with Ri-En also. The plan had gone smoothly, almost too smoothly. Was this what it really was like to fight with one of the best generals of the clone wars?

"We're not out yet," Ahsoka responded as they all rushed toward the ship. Anakin paused a moment and held Ri-En's lightsaber out to Ahsoka, he needed to make sure it got back to it's owner, Ahsoka took it not thinking twice about it. That was when storm troopers came rushing through the door. Anakin ignited his lightsaber and blocked the shots from the enemy. His movement was so fluid, as if he had sensed they were coming before they arrived.

"Go!" Anakin commanded Ahsoka as she moved to help him. He defended as they ran aboard the ship. Ahsoka still stood at the ramp watching as Anakin blocked the shots back into many storm troopers, she then saw he was looking toward a different ship, a realization flowed through her. He didn't want to go with them, he wanted to keep running.

"Make them hold the ship," Ahsoka commanded one of the troopers as she rushed out into the fray. She ignited her lightsabers joining Anakin, he looked at her an evident annoyance on his face.

"I told you to go!" he shouted now, but none of it effected the smoothness of his movements.

"I know what you are doing!" Ahsoka said moving in for another block. She wasn't about to let everything Ri-En had done go to waste because Anakin had some issues he refused to work out. She wasn't about to loose him again. It was too late for him to go back now, and she had to make him see that.

"Please, Ahsoka!" Anakin exclaimed now, he didn't want to answer to her or anyone else. He didn't want them to see through him, to see what he was.

"I can't let you go again," Ahsoka spoke to him, "you can't do this to me or to Ri-En. She believes in you, if you don't stay for any other reason stay for her!" As Ashoka spoke the last storm trooper fell and Anakin turned to her, his lightsaber still ignited like he was challenging her to get in his way. She knew she couldn't beat him but she didn't want to fight him. She turned her weapons off letting her arms fall to her side. Everyone had worked so long to try and change the world they lived in. She knew they couldn't defeat Sidious without Anakin and right now he was about to throw it all away again.

"Please," Anakin spoke again, "you don't understand." He turned off his weapon now mirroring her stance, he didn't know how to explain to her how he felt without telling her the whole story. He didn't want to stay with the people he cared about when he didn't even know if he had the strength to keep from hurting them. He might still go take out Sidious but he didn't want his actions to hurt anyone else.

"Of course I don't understand," Ahsoka replied tears in her eyes now, "you don't even want to try and make me understand. You just want to run away and I don't know why but I promise you that If you would just open up I would listen to you. Please, Anakin don't leave everything behind. We've given up too much to loose you again." He looked into her eyes and saw her pleading with him, begging him to stay. His resolve was shaken, but his mind was still stuck in the past.

"I can't!" Anakin exclaimed now. The same anger still flowed through him, things that Ahsoka saw in him so many times before. So many times he had done things that had made her question what was going on inside of him. Now she wondered what she was really seeing. What had he become when the world around them crumpled? What happened that had caused him to run away from the world? The temple fell and so many died but Ahsoka knew that there had to be something more holding him back from his destiny now; something he couldn't outrun.

"What's going on," a smaller younger voice joined the fray now. They both turned to see Ri-En standing at the ramp of the ship, she looked weak and frail but she was awake now.

"You should go lay down," Anakin said to her, "Rest." Ahsoka glared at him, this girl was the reason they could even speak now. Ri-En had risked everything to get to Abafar and to find him, they couldn't ignore her now. That was when Ahsoka realized the thing that could tip the scales of this moment. Anakin had put everything on the line to save Ri-En despite the fact that she pulled him out of his isolation. He revealed himself to her and that carried weight with whatever he was struggling with. The force had drawn them together like a master was drawn to a padawan in temple, it was clear as day with the concern he showed for her. The bond was already starting to form, Ahsoka had never felt like she was right as a master for a girl as gifted as Ri-En but maybe Anakin was.

"No! Ri-En stay!" Ahsoka exclaimed looking from Ri-En to Anakin, "she has the right to see you run away like a coward." Anakin winced at the word Ahsoka used because he knew all too well that he had been a coward the past 15 years. He was too afraid to face his past that he was pulling away from the future and even ignoring what the force was telling him.

"She needs to rest," Anakin said going back to the point he had just made and trying to maintain his calm.

"You're leaving?" Ri-En spoke tears forming in her eyes, she had done so much to get him back. Why was he leaving? Her mind turned back to her parents who had left in hope of finding him. They had failed and the years had shown her that they may never be coming back. She didn't even know if they were okay out there. Everyone left, why should she think he was different? He saw the look in her eyes, she looked at him like he had betrayed her.

"We have to go now!" Ahsoka said knowing that more storm troopers would come soon.

"I..." Anakin looked toward an imperial shuttle and then back to Ri-En who had tears flowing from her eyes now. He felt connected to her, like if he left now it would eat into her and maybe cause a rift in the light she carried. He could see the pain that the loss of her parents had brought and he realized that he would add to that. Could he really do that to her? Was it enough to stay for the child of his mentor?

"Please," Ri-En simply said the word he had been using, the pleading and the hope within her eyes. The compassion he felt for her on Abafar returned, Obi-Wan's daughter had seen so many leave and she almost had no one. He had planned on staying in exile forever but the force had led him to her and her to him. The truth was he threw away any chance he had at living in exile when he had reached out to Ri-En because now everyone knew he was alive. The force was telling him to follow his gut feeling here and to go with them despite his fears.

"I know what you both want," Anakin spoke thinking about all the people who had told him what he was destined for him the past. "I'm not sure I am strong enough to defeat Sidious."

"You are," Ri-En said, her words simple and her belief so pure.

"If I go with you," Anakin thought through his main misgiving at the moment, "I will be a target from Sidious, and that will be an arrow pointing to both of you. Are you sure you're ready for that?"

"Yes," Ri-En spoke quickly, she knew she was ready for it the moment she set out to bring him in.

"We've always been ready, Anakin," Ahsoka responded. Ri-En nodded and Anakin saw that in her eyes were locked on him, waiting for his answer.

All of his fears and his darkness didn't matter at that moment, suddenly he saw the light that Ri-En held and knew it was enough to balance his stormy soul. She had lost so much yet she still stayed strong. He knew what was forming between them, the bond he had once held with Ahsoka was re-awakening but at the same time a new one was forming. She was the forces answer to his questioning about what he should do next. He would stay, because Ri-En needed him.

"Let's go," he said walking toward the ships ramp, he had to give in because Ri-En had something the galaxy needed, something he needed. That was hope.

* * *

Distasteful, that was how she would delicately put the idea of going Tatooine. She would rather avoid the trip altogether and she had for awhile, but now she was out of leads and had nowhere else to turn. She was tired of the chase that Sidious was giving her and she needed to have a victory soon if she was to get to Obi-Wan in time to save his life. She had a couple of ideas of things to draw the Sith Lord's ire but she needed the information that Obi-Wan left on the desert planet.

Now she was quick, packing her ship with the necessary supplies for the ship and making sure it was cleaned off of any swamp plants that could lead the empire to Degobah if she got discovered. She never would have thought that she would enjoy the swamp planet more than the idea of going to Tatooine but things had changed so much over the past few years. For one thing just having Master Yoda around made a difference, because he had worked to train her more in the force and she felt stronger than before. She had managed to escape the girl who she called baby-sith Taris just to aggravate the girl. She was getting good fast and Siri wondered how long it would be before the girl did outmatch her.

"You're leaving again!" she heard Lukes voice as he ran into the clearing where she was cleaning her ship. She knew he would want to come with her this time, it was because of him that she had the information that she needed.

"That's very apparent isn't it," she said with a smile as she pulled a particularly large piece of moss off her engine. "I am out of leads, I need to know what Obi-Wan was digging up before I found you guys." She knew what was coming, the boy hated being left behind when she went out.

"Then I'm going with you," Luke said with an eager expression on his face, he was so young. She remembered when she had met up with Obi-Wan he had stressed that if anything happened to him that she was to care for Luke. She had brought him to Degobah because she wasn't sure she was ready for the responsibility of a child who relied on her like she was his master. Now what really mattered is Luke knew more about what Obi-Wan had done on Tatooine than she did and she had to rely on that information.

"You must ask Master Yoda first," she responded and saw excitement on Luke's face. Yoda was usually quick to let him go with her because Yoda believed Luke needed some experience in the world around them. He knew that Luke wasn't getting proper Jedi training with missions being the best instructors so Siri's jaunts out were good replacements for that.

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 **I honestly wanted to make this chapter longer but I decided that fast short updates are enough for me at this point. I am working on making the next chapter more meaty. My writing style is normally really long chapters but this story has just been so different for me. It really just formed as a fast idea in my head and has grown really quickly into a full blown new series of adventures.**

 **Thank you all for your support so far! I look forward to reading your reviews and predictions for the next few chapters. I think there will be a couple more before we do a small time shift and start on another adventure for Ri-En and Anakin!**

 **-AWinterChill**


	10. Beginnings: Found

**This chapter is longer, it took longer to craft. I am actually really happy to have entered the realm of longer chapters. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 10 - Found**

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15 Years Earlier

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 _The alert had sounded, now she was holding her breath in the place where she had made her life. The most hidden basement in the small village, and the place she always ran to when the alert went through the village. A stranger was here, and she was to remain hidden. She was certain that they knew she was alive but she had hoped that by staying on Ryloth that she would be safe because they would expect her to run. She was sitting in the darkest corner, her knees pulled to her chest. She felt like such a child, hiding in fear from whatever was out there but she knew the Jedi were public enemy number one._

 _Maybe she could forget them and forge a life here but she knew that wasn't really possible, not with so much still going on out there in the universe. She would never forget the feeling in the force when it all fell apart, her clones had attacked her but she was sure she was one of the lucky ones. She only had a small group with her because Ryloth was free and she was just there helping the citizens repair their world. She had help, a few twi'leks had rescued her from her own army and brought her to this village to hide. She had been desperate to go home, she was so certain something terrible had happened. When she got a chance to check the alert beacon it warned her to stay away and news of what really happened quickly traveled to Ryloth. The Jedi had tried to kill the chancellor, it didn't make sense to her but the whole order was destroyed with no trail or justice. They were just stomped out of the world without warning and without a way out._

 _She had been in hiding here for six weeks now. She spent her time the twi'leks who had sheltered her, in any way that she could. She could hunt easily and she worked well in the fields. A few weeks before she had been in the fields when the stranger alert had sounded and she had been forced to flee to the mountains since there was no way for her to get to the basement in time. Her friends had found her when it was all clear. This wasn't living, it was a prison of fear, of never knowing what the next day would be and of not knowing what the world outside was._

 _She hadn't let herself mourn the Jedi, her family because she knew the moment she did she would feel lost. No one was coming for her this time, she was a criminal to the world and there was no way out of this terror. She had grown up in a world where Jedi were respected, how would she survive in the world where they were hated? Why had the force let this happen? These were the thoughts she had to shut out. She knew it was a miracle she was alive and that she had been spared for a reason and she would eventually find that reason._

 _From here she couldn't even hear the commotion of the world above, she knew that the stranger could be harmless but they didn't want anyone outside to know she was here. She sighed as she felt something change in the force. She didn't want to reach out and touch it now but it drew her in so quickly. She felt a presence she hadn't felt in at least a year and a half with all the fighting of the clone wars, she hadn't seen him in so long. Despite that she could never forget that feeling in the force, it had to be him. She pushed all thoughts of a trap away as she used the force to quickly open the secret door of her hiding place._

 _Her feet moved fast as she ran through the buildings toward the feeling. Twi'leks were yelling at her now, confused by what was happening as she rushed out to the main road. She saw him as he turned to face her, she stopped tears spilling from her eyes. He froze at the sight of her, he had seen her name on a list of wanted Jedi a week before and had sought her out on Ryloth. He didn't want to hope that the list was correct because he didn't want to face her death if he allowed himself to hope. All that was gone now as she stood before him. All at once the emotions of the loss of everything she held dear hit her._

 _Inhibitions_ _were gone and suddenly she ran to him, throwing her arms around him and burying her face in him. She let the tears she hadn't shed flow now, now that she had someone who understood it all right in front of her. He wrapped his arms around her now holding her close, something they had never allowed to happen between them. Their friendship was too deep, too much like an attachment for them to really work together during the clone wars but none of that mattered now. She was here, she had survived._

 _"Siri," he said her name first, she wouldn't let go of him so he didn't let go of him. The Twi'leks were confused but they didn't say anything now that it was clear that Siri knew the stranger. He was grateful to them because it was clear that they had helped her. He used the force around him to send her calm, the way she held onto him it was clear that she had gone through more than he knew._

 _"It's gone," she said now as the loss around her pained her heart, "the order is gone. Everything is gone." She loosened her hold on him but she still held onto her dear friend like he was going to vanish._

 _"I know," Obi-Wan spoke gently stroking the back of her head, "I know, Siri."_

 _"I thought you were dead," She said now letting go of him and looking him in the eyes now, "I was so sure that you were gone." He realized now what she was really saying, and it was deep enough to make him wonder what they were going to do now._

 _"I thought I was going to die for a while there," Obi-Wan said now as Siri reached to take his hands, "but there is still hope for the galaxy around us. Anakin is alive, and we have to find him." Siri understood what he was saying but she didn't understand what had taken place in this new empire, Anakin was the chosen one who could turn the tides of whatever evil they were facing. She held onto Obi-Wan's hands now, knowing that he needed strength as much as she did. He had lost it all as she did._

 _"I am with you," Siri replied now, "whatever it takes." That was all the assurance he needed to wrap his arms around her now and hold her close. They had survived and they were together now, the empire would have to watch out. If one Jedi was to be feared, two were a explosive terror._

* * *

Present

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Space was always incredible to her. The way the stars formed patterns and pictures in the sky was captivating. She had never forgotten the first time she had flown a ship into it, as she went beyond what she had ever dreamed of doing. The cockpit of a ship was her home and flying in space was where she belonged. They were at lightspeed, fast approaching their home when she sat back and thought about the success of their mission. Hera had noticed that Ahsoka was silent as they flew out and she continued to be so as she and Kanan stayed with Hera on the bridge after they left. She had wondered if Ahsoka was going to go back and talk to her old master, it was quite odd hearing that be said aloud.

When Ahsoka and Kanan had gotten back to her ship on Abafar they had told the story of meeting up with the famous Anakin Skywalker, the hero that Ri-En had left to find. He had planned out their rescue of Ri-En perfectly and she had not had much to do other than fly the ship, which was a nice chance from planning things herself. Kanan had been going on and on about how fast Anakin had defeated an inquisitor and Ahsoka had been musing about why Anakin would have left them the way he did. That was what Hera assumed was still bothering the Torgruta, she probably had so many thoughts about what they were going to do next. That he had almost left was something Hera didn't see coming, and that Ahsoka and Ri-En were able to convince him to stay astounded her. She wondered how long that would last, and if he would try to leave again sometime in the future.

"You wanna talk about it?" Hera asked Ahsoka as she sat fiddling with a data pad in front of her. Ahsoka looked at her and smiled faintly.

"I am just glad we got Ri-En back," Ahsoka said diplomatically, "She's getting grounded for the next few months after this stunt." Hera knew that was probably coming, Ri-En was getting as little to headstrong and flighty for her own good. They would have to get some sense in her sometime.

"Well she did succeed," Hera responded. Ahsoka knew this was true, Ri-En succeeded where her father had failed because the force had led her straight to Anakin's hiding place. It was a strange situation and Ahsoka didn't like it one bit, why had Anakin been in hiding and why did he want to leave again. Something must have happened beyond the destruction of the Jedi temple but she wasn't sure he would ever tell her.

"Who know's what comes next after this," Ahsoka responded shaking her head. Hera heard what she was saying, the Rebellion was still just beginning. Could one man make a difference in their fight? Only time would tell.

* * *

She had anger radiating through her being as she stepped onto the landing platform on the large city planet. She hated being called back to Couscant, but she knew that her master was aware of her failure and it wouldn't do any good to try and dodge it. She was afraid of what was in store because failure was never treated well. She ignored the gazes of the landing platform crew as she stepped into the speeder that had come for her. The man piloting it said something but she ignored him. Her mind as focused on her training as she mined her emotions, capturing them and using them to strengthen her connection to the dark side of the force.

Courscant was the home to the memories that had first helped her tap into the dark side, and it was always here that she felt it strongest. The energy surrounding memories of the only person who had ever loved her. It was powerful, radiating and spinning through her consciousness and all the hatred she felt in her life came back to this place. At the same time a great sadness overwhelmed her for she could never escape the regret that her single darkest moment had brought to her. The sun was setting on the planet now, she knew that she would get no sleep tonight. Her master probably had plans for her training and that probably involved almost dying. The irony of this place was taunting her, reminding her that she had to keep getting stronger. Only in the strength of the dark side would she be able to fight back and free the galaxy around her.

 _"Please, don't let him twist you,"_ the voice sounded through her mind, she focused on blocking it out but it overwhelmed her every moment. _"Run, please, run."_ She was not weak and she would never give in. She had to become strong enough to end the enemy, to end the rebellion and stop the storms of the world around her. Only then could she find a way to rest the memory of her mother.

She stepped off the speeder as they arrived at the large imperial palace. This was the place she had called home as a child, she used to feel safe here but being chosen as the emperor's Sith apprentice meant enduring pain. The inquisitors on Mustafar were jealous of the special attention she got, but she knew that none of them could withstand what it took to endure. She was good with the force but her training with a lightsaber was what she had relied on as her biggest strength. Her defeat at the hands of the new Jedi, Vader as he called himself, was a setback she could not afford. She had to be strong enough to destroy all of them. She had failed to apprehend Tachi on Mustafar and now she failed on Abafar.

She entered the emperor's main chamber, she could feel in the force that he was expecting her. It was always dark in here, it matched the dark side energy around her. This was apparently the site of the old Jedi temple, and she could almost feel the fear of the souls who had perished in this place. Her eyes were adjusting to the lighting change and she knelt down before her master. Her head fell and fear filled her but she was ready for what came. He would not kill her, she could feel that much.

"Master," she knew it was customary that she address him first. He evaluated what he saw in her, she had so much fear in her now but what dominated was an anger at what had happened and a hatred for the defeat she had been handed. She had been very hard to train because of her fear, it had taken him a long time to get her to harness her anger. She was magnificent when she was all in on her hatred, but there were a few things he had messed up on when she was young. She still had a long way to go and he could feel her confusion about what she was to do next.

"Rise, Taris," he spoke standing from his throne. She looked at him, her eyes were yellowing as he could feel her growing defensive. She had a good instinct about her but he was too curious about her report to bother punishing her at this point. There was plenty of time for that, he would be training her much more before he sent her out again.

"Report," he said simply. Her mind instantly replayed the report she had prepared but not of it sounded right.

"We lost the Jedi," she said first stating what he already knew. "We apprehended the child, Ri-En, but she was rescued by three Jedi. One of them we had not encountered before. I fought him with two inquisitors but he was stronger than all of us, we didn't stand a chance." She paused remembering the fight and how quickly he had discarded the inquisitors like they were a minor inconvenience. The emperor said nothing as if knowing that she had more to say.

"I believe that he was the reason for the young Jedi to be on Abafar," she spoke her suspicions knowing that the man knew her master. "He was strange for a Jedi, he knew the dark side." The emperor hadn't been very attentive and had even turned away but he looked at her now.

"Did you get a name?" The emperor asked. She shrunk back at the hatred and fear spewing forth from the emperor's voice now but she knew she had to tell him.

"He said to tell you," she began almost fearing to speak from the tension in the room, "Vader is coming for you." The emperor's anger lashed out at Taris and she was thrown back by the force, lightning spun around him. The gaul of Skywalker to dare use the name he abandoned. Sidious knew he was alive, but he had no idea how much Anakin actually accepted about his past. If the Jedi was the chosen one it was dangerous to underestimate him but he was always so close to the dark side.

Taris got up a little shocked at her masters display. He calmed quickly but it confirmed her suspicious that this man was the Jedi that her master had searched for all the years she'd been alive. From what she knew he had agreed to follow Sidious then turned on him and ran. She didn't understand what had really happened but she could almost reach out and touch the hatred her master had. Whoever the Jedi was he had been strong enough to destroy her and the inquisitors, no Jedi had been able to handle her with her allies around and Tachi even ran from her rather than facing her.

"This development is unfortunate," Sidious spoke now as he thought through the conditions in which he lost sight of Skywalker. He turned to the girl now, she was instrumental in the next stage of his plans. He had Kenobi in his custody and Taris was ready to begin the next stage of her training. His adversaries were not prepared to handle what he had been preparing for them. Skywalkers return meant that he was getting that much closer to ending resistance to his rule.

"Come," he said turning toward the back exit to the room, "we have much work to do."

* * *

Ahsoka hadn't expected the crowds that gathered at the main hangar of the rebels main ship system. She knew the main leaders would be there but it seemed like most of the base had come out to see if Ri-En was back and safe. She knew the people here had watched Ri-En grow up and to them she was the beginning of bringing back the Jedi and bringing the galaxy back to freedom. She looked out of the ships windows in awe of how they had all come out for the small girl. They had medically stabilized Ri-En on the flight and she had rested. After that Anakin hadn't said much, he seemed to have a lot on his mind so she let him rest. Her and Kanan had discussed many things on the flight, partially about how Anakin's return would chance the game for the potential return of the Jedi.

She walked back through the ship toward the main ramp and saw Anakin helping Ri-En stand, she still looked very tired but she was smiling so brightly. She had fought to bring Anakin back to this place and she had succeeded where her parents had failed. It was quite the feat for a 14 year old girl. Ahsoka knew soon she would have to talk to Anakin about her belief that he should take Ri-En as his padawan but now wasn't the time for that discussion. She was pretty certain Anakin had figured out the will of the force on his own by now.

She walked ahead of the two people she had returned with and watched as Kanan stepped off first followed by the clones. She stepped off and there were cheers as Ri-En and Anakin appeared on the top of the ramp but she noticed the leaders looked confused. They knew what Ri-En had gone to do and there was a question in their eyes, wondering if this was the man she had gone to find. R6 roared out of the ship, beeping in excitement of being back.

Ri-En felt Anakin put a hand on her shoulder as she stumbled a moment, at the sight of so many here. They stepped down the ramp as the others did, this was going to be so interesting to explain but she knew that Ahsoka would have her back in getting through it. She had come back with a triumph but very few here would really understand how much of a victory it really was. Ahsoka came alongside her and guided her to the Rebel leadership. Hera and Kanan followed along and Anakin realized that it was best to stay with the group.

"Commander Sato," Ahsoka addressed their leading commander first, "we have successfully returned with what remains of Ri-En's missing group."

"Yes I see that," he said his eyes scanning over the clones, noting who they lost and who made it back. "Come we will discuss these events without the whole of the rebellion watching us."

"Excuse me," Ahsoka responded to get him to turn back to her, "Ri-En has been through a lot by now. I can explain the situation quite well, she needs a medical evaluation immediately." Ri-En wasn't expecting that but Anakin evidently was because he didn't even flinch as Ahsoka turned to him.

"Of course," the commander responded, looking a little embarrassed. "Check her in there, then meet in my office."

* * *

15 years earlier

* * *

 _"It's hard to believe the chancellor, the emperor is a Sith," Siri sat with Obi-Wan in deep space now on a light freighter that wouldn't be noticed by the empire. They had remained on Ryloth for a week catching up, then they had spent a few more weeks searching the empire for information regarding any surviving Jedi. Through that time they leaned on each other to get through the floods of emotions they felt in the wake of their loss. They were always good Jedi, they could release everything into the force and move on but the pain of loosing the only home they had ever known was bound to stick no matter what they did to try and let it go. No Jedi they knew had ever had to deal with such astounding loss. Siri was growing weary with the pain and numb to the world around her. They still kept going but she wondered what the cost would be before it was all over._

 _"I only wish we had been able to stop him," Obi-Wan was never one to hold to regrets but the situation was so different than any he had faced before. "We were so blind." She knew he blamed himself because he was a part of the council that had let everything fall apart without even a notice.  
_

 _"You said Anakin was on Courscant when it all happened," Siri said to him, "if we find him, do you think he'll know the whole story?"_

 _"I don't know if anyone really knows the whole story," Obi-Wan responded. She shook her head, none of it made much sense but it was clear that the Sith had kept their edge against Jedi strong. No one had suspected Palpatine was a Sith and no one was prepared for him to be their enemy. He had amassed so much power, they should have seen it before. That is the sad truth about deception, no one knows they are being deceived when they are in the middle of it. In hind sight it looks obvious._

 _There were two of them alive now, maybe more somewhere but neither of them knew if they should hope for that. They could change the galaxy just as one Sith had, but they wouldn't want to play a long game. They knew they needed Anakin, and with him it was all possible. Without him, maybe the galaxy could rally together and right itself. The force was out of balance now, as it had been their whole lives. The dark side had always clouded everything, it had always controlled the world around them. It needed to be broken for balance to be achieved. Sometimes she wondered what a world with equal parts light and dark would look like. The Jedi believed the Sith threw the force out of balance because of their insatiable desire for power, for more and more power. They showed no restraint, they were drunk with the power they amassed._

 _She would be lying if she said she wasn't a bit frightened by the odds that were stacked agains them right now. Sidious had been thorough and they were just beginning. It would take time and time was not on their side. She impulsively took Obi-Wan's hand, as if just by holding onto him she was holding onto her belief that they could fix things. He stiffened a little, but he didn't pull away. They had always had a bond that was hard to ignore. He never forgot what he felt for her when they were just teens, and though Yoda and Qui-Gon had helped him release his feelings to the force a small part of them always stayed there._

 _Attachments were forbidden, but at the same time the bonds they shared as Jedi remained. They had remained good friends through the years and though their commitments to the order were tested numerous times they knew what was important. So they never gave in for a moment, of course that didn't mean that they hadn't thought about it. Being this close was difficult, the order was not around anymore and that made their vows seem so distant. Still Obi-Wan didn't know how he felt about the idea of breaking them for a moment. His heart beat faster even as the thought crossed his mind. He had to keep to the path he had always been on, to release it all to the force._

 _"Don't," Siri spoke as if she knew what he was thinking, she turned and looked at him now with tears in her eyes._

 _"Siri," he said her name softly, "we have to be careful." She knew what he was saying but she had been ignoring her heart her entire life, and she had lost so much so fast. It made her cherish the truth that he was alive with her now and in that it was hard to keep letting go._

 _"We lost everything," Siri said shaking her head, "why can't we have something for all that? Why can't we be something? Why can't we cherish each other with the whole galaxy falling apart? We may not have tomorrow, why not really live today?" He knew what she was saying, it was difficult to have to let go of so much pain and to have so much uncertainty around them. They could loose each other anytime now and if that happened they would only regret what went left unsaid and undone. It wasn't the Jedi way but they were still human and regret was hard to release. A hint of it would always remain. He breathed in his feelings for her and breathed out letting the calm flow, letting the force flow._

 _"And what if I lost you," Obi-Wan responded now, "and it pushed me over the edge? Attachments are forbidden for a reason, we might put each others lives over the lives of those around us. You understand that as much as I do." Siri shook her head, she knew him better than that. Through the years she had grown to believe the Jedi were wrong about attachments. She did not think they should be completely forbidden, she thought the Jedi should allow them and learn to let go when the time came. Of course she was never considered an ideal Jedi. She wasn't much younger than Obi-Wan and he was a master, yet she remained a knight. He was revered by all in the temple and admired by the other council members, but that didn't mean he didn't feel. He felt things deeply but he always knew when to let go, which was something that she admired in him. She knew if he lost her that he would remain. It wouldn't destroy him._

 _"You don't believe it," she said looking away from him now, "I know you Kenobi. You've always understood that it is the relationships we cherish around us that give us the strength we need to keep fighting. You've always known when to let go. My demise would never destroy you." He took another deep breath knowing the words she said were what he really did believe, but he had never wanted to go against the order. The older masters had seen more than him, who was he to question them. Yet he had never felt the force move away from him as he bonded with those around him, he felt it strengthen with each person he cared for._

 _Siri had been a turning point for his life. She was the hardest to let go of, because they had so much life between them. They could have left the order long before but they chose to live as Jedi, it was something that had strengthened them. The truth that they were forced to let go of, to release._

 _"I do not yet know what would be enough to destroy me," Obi-Wan tried responding as diplomatically as possible. "We made a commitment."_

 _"To an order that no longer exits," Siri said the words that hung in the air between them. The Jedi order was gone, the Jedi were criminals and out laws to the galaxy now. There was no threat of being expelled, nothing to loose anymore now that they had lost everything. She looked into his eyes, saying so much with a single gaze. Bonds strengthening with each moment they spent together running from the world. The electricity between them was hard to ignore as they had when they had a whole order of Jedi to keep them from making any mistakes that would cause them to loose what they held dear. Sidious tore all that away from them._

 _"You may well be the end of me, Tachi," he spoke to her as distance between them seemed to be decreasing. She always loved it when he used her last name. They were mere centimeters away from each other now, his eyes flickering from hers to her mouth. She didn't dare speak and break the moment that was coming, she could feel it in the atmosphere around him._

 _He closed the rest of the distance, resting his lips on hers gently then deeper. She responded to him simply following his lead, not wanting to push him farther than he was willing to go. She didn't dare reach for him till his hands reached for her. She was shocked by the fire that ran through her being at his touch. He broke his lips away from hers, they were both taking much deeper breaths than before. He didn't loose his hold on her, he just rested his forehead against hers as if trying to hold onto the moment they found themselves in. Maybe the force had spared them and brought them back together for a reason greater than they knew. Their love for each other was rekindled so quickly and they didn't know what the next day would hold for them._

 _"You're as stubborn as ever," Obi-Wan whispered now. She breathed in the air around him, letting each breath wash through her with admiration for him. Who would have believed the boy she fought with as a child would grow to be her most cherished friend and the man whose love she was forced to give up._

 _"You are too," she said opening her eyes to look into his, she was still frightened by the idea that he was going to push her away and giddy by the idea that after all this time they could really be together. She was never a strong as he was, she had always cherished the memories she had of him. She always remembered the almost fatal crash that has caused them to realize the strong feelings they had for each other._

 _"I don't know where giving in will lead us," Obi-Wan said to her, she looked away from him now as if not even willing to hear him release his feelings again. He reached a hand out to her face, bringing it back to face his. "Listen to me."_

 _"Not if..." he shook his head and she silenced._

 _"I don't know where this will lead," he began again, "but if we vow to each other not to let our feelings distract us from our mission as Jedi..." Her whole being filled with hope and before she could stop herself she pressed her lips to his. This kiss was more powerful than the first as he gave in instantly, his mind cleared out of his fears and inhibitions. They let go of each other and looked into each others eyes,_

 _"I promise," Siri spoke now, "I will make any promise that needs to be made." Her hand took his as she intertwined her fingers with his. "I will not allow my feelings for you to get into the way of my duties as one of the last remaining Jedi, but that doesn't mean I won't stop loving you. No matter what comes." He smiled at her words, it seemed so strange to be even having this conversation._

 _"I will not allow my feelings for you to cloud my judgment," Obi-Wan spoke now, "I will release what needs to be released." She wondered what he was going to do next, his words were so different from hers, almost like an ultimatum. He put a hand on her face again and the look in his eyes was the strangest she had ever seen, it was a deep compassion and love that she would have never imagined._

 _"As long as we have each other, I will cherish our time together," Obi-Wan continued, "I love you." She was amazed at the warmth she felt and he was amazed at how freeing it was, to speak the words that had been so long unspoken. He closed the distance between the again catching her lips in another simple kiss. This was a memory she would hold onto for many years to come, for it was the day that they decided that loving each other was worth it. That it would not change them, and they would discover how much their love for each other led to great strength. The Jedi order did not have it completely right, their love for each other tethered them to the light, it didn't drive them to the dark. It was something that was amazing yet at the same time very confusing. At least they had each other, and as long as they did the would cherish the life they made together._

* * *

Present

* * *

Ri-En laid in the Rebel medical facility aboard their ship system, thought tests showed that she was fine they wanted her to be monitored for one night before letting her go. The ride home was uneventful for her since Anakin and Ahsoka made sure she went to sleep and she didn't wake until they were back. Now she was stuck in this boring place wondering what was going on around the base. This was stressing her out. She just wanted to run around and hear what she missed when she was gone. She felt completely fine, hadn't they run enough tests for now?

Time passed by and she wondered how the meeting with Commander Sato was going. How surprised would they be when they realized she was successful in her mission, she had brought them back hope. Of course they wouldn't understand it the way the Jedi did, they couldn't really understand the dynamics that Ri-En felt in the force and that Ahsoka clung to like it was a lifeline. Anakin was hope, he was the chosen one. He could defeat Sidious and save them all, she was certain of it. He had gotten her away from Taris so quickly and now she was safe because of him. True, he had almost left but that he stayed was monumental. She could feel his conflict in the force, and the moment he silenced it with his own will. She wondered if he even realized how strong he was.

"So how'd they say you were," she turned at Anakin's voice as he entered containment area she was in, she expected him to still be at the meeting with Sato. She sighed, she really wished they weren't going to keep her here.

"I am fine," Ri-En replied smiling, "but being the worrying medical staff that they are, they want me to stay overnight for observation." He understood her feelings about this, he had always hated being kept longer in medical centers than he felt like he needed. He had heard of patients conditions changing overnight and that had always calmed him.

"It's always good to be careful," Anakin said now walking in and taking the seat next to her. He was still amazed at how much she reminded him of Obi-Wan. He thought of how quickly he had changed his mind about coming here at her request. She had never given up, he owed it to her to keep on trying. The rebel leaders were excited about him joining in their fight, his reputation still proceeded him, but they were wary about his readiness after isolation all this time. He knew that things were going to begin easy, and if he ever found that the emperor could find the rebels through him he would leave. He wasn't about to endanger Ri-En and the rest of them more than they needed. They had given him an update on the Empire and it's control on the galaxy, it seemed that the rebels had caused enough trouble that pirates and smugglers flourished. They could use that to their advantage and he was sure they would in the coming days.

"What's on your mind?" Ri-En asked now, shaking him from his thoughts.

"Just the state of the empire," Anakin replied knowing it was such a broad subject and he didn't even know the half of what was going on. He wanted more information but the leaders had to brief Ahsoka on matters that were for leadership only. So they had sent him away. He had talked to the other Jedi, Kanan more and found out his story. It was amazing that he had survived as just a padawan and that he had been able to hide for so long.

"Oh good you're both here," they heard Ahsokas voice as she entered, she was glad to find them both in the same place. She needed to introduce Anakin to her idea and she hoped he was ready for it. She knew he had to feel the will of the force in this matter. She had been listening to Sato's explanation of their upcoming agendas in defeating the empire but she was very distracted about what needed to be said to Ri-En and Anakin.

"They won't let me leave yet," Ri-En spoke her first words to her master and Ahsoka shook her head.

"Now, now Ri-En, let the medics do what they think is best," Ahsoka said placing her hands on her hips. "And don't think that you're getting off easy because you actually succeeded in finding Anakin. That was a reckless thing for you to do and while I am glad that you succeeded, you can not be allowed to just run off without leadership approval." Ri-En rolled her eyes, she had been expecting this so she honestly didn't care to retort. She was never going to pull something like this again without real reason. Anakin was silent, not wanting to insert himself into this.

"Yes master," Ri-En responded, she was tired and willing to just let Ahsoka have her say.

"I have discussed it with Sato," Ahsoka said to her, "you are going to be placed on a temporary service probation. That means lots of kitchen duty and very little operational missions for the time being." Ri-En had expected this, she nodded knowing that arguing wouldn't do anything and it might actually make the sentence extend. The best way to be taken off this would be to comply for the time being.

"The rebels don't have enough resources to pull someone off missions completely," Anakin spoke up now, he knew that was why they were going to try and limit Ri-En. It didn't make much sense to punish her along with the clones that had went along with her. They should bear the brunt of the blame, not the child.

"We have you now," Ahsoka said to him, "which brings me to what I wanted to talk to you both about." She sat down on another chair in the room, knowing this discussion might not be as easy to win but it was the only way she could think to keep Anakin with them long term. He needed a big reason to stay and to push down any thoughts he had of running again. "I have a proposition for you, but first I need to ask you if you've felt what the force seems to be asking of us." Ri-En looked confused but Anakin's expression was unreadable.

"What?" Ri-En asked looking between her master and her new friend. She had no clue what they were talking about now. Anakin didn't respond.

"The bond is already forming," Ahsoka said to Anakin, she had seen this many times in the temple. "The force is willing it, you must train her." Ri-En's eyes got really big at the prospect that Ahsoka was passing her off to Anakin. Ahsoka had been with her for her entire life, why would she be so quick to let that go? There was silence for a long moment as Ri-En looked at Ahsoka wondering why this seemed to be happening so much. Her mother had passed her on to Ahsoka and now Ahsoka was trying to pass her on to Anakin. She didn't understand what was happening.

"I don't know that I am ready for that responsibility," Anakin finally said breaking the silence. Ri-En let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"It doesn't matter if you are ready," Ahsoka replied her voice a little more impassioned than normal. "You know how this goes. Ri-En found you because the force led you two together, just like how Yoda knew the force was willing us together. You taught me everything, and as a master I have failed Ri-En. You'd be better for her."

"You haven't failed me," Ri-En realized as she spoke her voice sounded very small. She wasn't sure what was going to happen but she knew that if it was the will of the force she would have to accept Anakin as a master.

"I have too many responsibilities with the rebellion," Ahsoka said her eyes on Ri-En's, telling the girl her reasoning. "I have not trained you like I should have, you will never reach your full potential with me as your master. I was never even made a Jedi Knight." Anakin held his hand up now for her to stop speaking. He then stood up and abruptly as if to walk out but Ahsoka moved fast standing in front of the door.

"Do you think Ri-En really wants you to give her up?" Anakin spoke now a little confused about the whole situation. He didn't want to take Ri-En away from Ahsoka if she wanted to stay with Ahsoka. Along with that he didn't want to taint Ri-En with the darkness that his soul had touched, no, more like embraced. He looked back at her now and saw in her an unfading light, despite the emotions that were flooding her. She had so much goodness to her, something he needed. Balance eluded him even after all he had done on Abafar to try and achieve it.

"Ri-En is ready to follow the will of the force," Ahsoka said calmly, "as am I. Trust me, I have so much I would rather be interrogating you on right now but I understand what needs to happen before anything else. We need to look at the bigger picture here. If we are ever going to defeat the empire we need to follow what the force tells us to do. You are a great Jedi, and you are a great master." He turned and looked to Ri-En, her confusion was still evident.

"What do you want Ri-En?" he asked her. She looked between Ahsoka and Anakin now reaching out into the force for direction, wondering where her path would lead next. She felt it strong, the bond she was forming with Anakin. The force was willing her to listen to Ahsoka and to choose Anakin at this moment. She wasn't sure what was coming next but she would follow what the force was saying. It had led her straight to Anakin for a reason, maybe more than one reason. Her father had trained him, maybe by learning from him she would learn more about the man whom she barely even remembered. She had so many hopes now that she could clearly see what the force was saying. She would follow it completely.

"I will accept you as my master," Ri-En said to Anakin with assurance, now that she had seen it herself it was all clear. Ahsoka smiled with encouragement to the girl, she knew it wasn't easy but Ri-En was strong enough to make the right choice.

"Then I will accept you as my padawan," Anakin felt strange to be saying these words. After Ahsoka had left the Jedi order he had thought he would never take on a padawan again. He could never have predicted that the force would lead him to, and that it would be Obi-Wan's daughter that became his next padawan. The world around them had gotten very strange indeed, and he knew that they were just beginning something new. He would train Ri-En in as much light as he could, and maybe she would help him achieve balance along the way.

* * *

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I really wanted to write some flashback Obi-Wan/Siri scenes, so I included them here. They have always been my favorite part of the expanded universe and the only thing I wish I could pull back into canon is Siri.**

 **So I have finally mapped most of this story out! I am excited to introduce to you the format the rest of this story will be in.**

 **I will be conducting this story with a series of episodic adventures and amazing story archs! I am so excited to start diving into them. It may become a very long story but it will be so much fun to read and write!**

 **So as always leave me a review, I am one of those authors that feeds off reviews. They inspire me and it's huge!**

 _ **Preview for next arch: SPOILERS:**_

 **Next Arch -** Naboo Resistance

 _A few months after this chapter: Sabine, Hera, Anakin and Ri-En are sent to Naboo to extract a couple of resistance fighters. While there Anakin see's how the empire destroys the simplest beauty in the galaxy and Ri-En learns how to manage her force powers in lightsaber combat_

 **-AWinterChill**


	11. Naboo Resistance: A New Mission

**Hey Everyone! This chapter will introduce a new villain and start my second arch of this story! Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 11 - A New Mission**

 **Naboo Resistance Part 1**

* * *

 **5 weeks later**

* * *

Mustafar's atmosphere was not pleasant at all. The constant volcanic activity made it one of the more dangerous planets to have any presence on at all, but the darkside energy around the planet made it one of the emperors favorite spots to train his dark force users. Taris vividly remembered the first time she ever visited the planet, she had been very frightened of the dark around it, now she was numb to it. She paced back in forth her eyes on the training session in front of her. These inquisitors and other agents of the emperor were grating on her for their ineffectiveness.

She had trained when them when she was very young but she had quickly surpassed them as the emperor always told her she would. Her eyes scanned the group, she knew each name and face well and she knew the identity's they took on once coming here. Many of the best inquisitors were out searching leads on the Jedi they faced that left her with the emperor's assassins and spies. He had told her to choose one that could pick out Jedi from a crowd and that was difficult.

"You can't wait on this decision," The first Sister spoke now, she was waiting on Taris to pick what she wanted. She had become the default leader when the Gran Inquisitor was killed by Kanan, she never went on missions herself because she was overseeing the training of the dark side users on this planet. She had never liked Taris which was fine because Taris had never liked her. She thought of herself as the one the emperor passed over for the younger girl though Taris knew that this woman never had a chance. She wanted to rile up this woman, to show her that she wasn't good enough to train these weapons, much less to be the next Sith in line for the empire.

She glanced across the group again, her eyes settling on one that would do for all her purposes. He wasn't an inquisitor, the emperor was fashioning him as an assassin but he had enough knowledge of Jedi hunting to be of more use that just that. His lightsaber skills were not quite up to her standard but his skills in the force were wild and Taris actually enjoyed watching him take down opponents with cunning. He looked strong enough to use brute force and often surprised more skilled opponents with intelligent solutions to winning.

"I want Jay Carras," Taris turned to the First Sister now with a smirk on her face. The emperor said he wanted someone that was good at tracking Jedi, Jay fit that profile but he was probably also too spacy to actually stop a Jedi, personality wise he was too much of what the galaxy considered a good person to be sent on many important assignments. Taris wanted to reserve the honor of taking out the remaining Jedi for herself, Jay would do nicely for the emperor's low key rebel hunting mission.

She also evaluated him based on his looks, he was a human with great features and charisma. This mission required some of these traits that he possessed and the other inquisitors did not. Subtlety was undervalued on Mustafar and most inquisitors announced their presence upon meeting their targets, they also did not possess the skills that the assassins did. The problem was that there weren't many assassins and the emperor was constantly using them. Jay was the only exception.

"Carras is not a good asset for the mission at hand," the First Sister argued, she was of the opinion that Carras was defective and too soft to fulfill his duties as an assassin for the emperor. She knew that was the main reason Taris was choosing him now, to annoy her. It was very childish of the young girl who though of herself as the perfect Sith. The Emperor was blind to choose the girl, she was too touched by the light side, too spoiled by her own mother to be a good candidate.

"The Emperor told me to choose," Taris said her voice rising to a louder tone, "your opinion is not needed in this matter." She then held her hand up and the training moderator sounded the bell to stop the fights. Taris glanced over the force sensitives her master had collected, they could have been Jedi had the order not fallen. Their eyes were all on hers and her eyes set on the one she wanted. He was only a year older than herself, very tall with dark hair perfectly framing his face. She held a hand up and beckoned to him to follow her as she exited the main training room.

She stepped onto the landing platform with her chosen assassin following behind her. She stopped in front of her ship and turned to face him.

"The emperor has given me the task of choosing an asset for an immediate spying mission to what we believe is a Rebel cell," Taris spoke quickly, "I have chosen you to infiltrate their ranks and flush out any information you can on where the Rebels plan to port their ships next." He was not expecting this today, not at all.

"And you've chosen me?" Jay asked her. Him and Taris were friends as children but as she got older she became very hardened in her ways as a Sith. He wondered what she had experienced out there in the world to mold her into who she was today, she certainly did most of her jobs well. He on the other hand had only been sent on a few assignments, and most of those were low risk. This seemed to be a bigger job if the emperor hoped to root out the rebels entirely.

"I chose you because I believe you have what it takes," Taris told him with fire in her eyes, "if I was given the option I would do this job myself, but since the Emperor wants me engaged elsewhere I have chosen you. Do not fail me." She was menacing to most when she spoke sternly but he knew the truth that she tried so hard to hide, she was more forgiving than the rest of the dark force users on this planet.

"I will do what you ask?" Jay responded bowing in respect, he knew it would be enough to put him on good terms with her for the meantime. She loved the idea that at majority of the Emperor's agents on Mustafar respected her. He needed to earn her respect on this mission to boost his standing with the empire. He was focused now on not failing.

* * *

She kept her eyes forward on her opponent, waiting for him to strike again she watched every twitch of his muscles. The force was around her, she was breathing it but she wanted to keep to the rules they had set for her so she didn't reach out to use it just yet. He swung his lightsaber toward her in a pattern she did not expect and she barely caught his attacks with her own saber. He didn't let up swinging in another direction, she listened in the force but she couldn't keep up if she didn't focus on his movements.

She tired moving her lightsaber back at him but he flipped his around hers and instantly his lightsaber was at her throat. She froze holding her breath for a moment in frustration. This was the fourth time today and though she held her own long she still wasn't getting the hang of using her weapon. Ezra smiled as she turned off her lightsaber and he followed turning off his.

"That's four," Ezra spoke and she sighed. He was getting a little overconfident with all his wins. They were good friends but sometimes she found him quite annoying.

"And you know you'd be down easily if the rules weren't skewed against me," Ri-En muttered, she was not sure that learning to fight with a lightsaber alone was going to help her that much against the enemy.

"The rules are not skewed against you," Ezra said back but she ignored him.

"That was a little better Ri," she heard Anakin call from the other side of the room where he stood with Kanan watching the spar take place. The two masters started walking over to their apprentices. The first lessons Anakin had worked on as her new master had been all about lightsaber training, she was extremely bad at the forms he was showing her but she wanted to impress him so she was working to get them. He had come up with the idea of her sparring with Ezra because he had become quite good at using his own saber. The rules of the battle were no force moves since Ri-En had mastered those and would win instantly.

Anakin hoped that he could help her develop a lightsaber style and then he could teach her how to blend her fighting with the force. He did not realize how far behind he was, and how long it would take to catch her up. Ezra's master never really became a Jedi knight yet he was far ahead of Ri-En in lightsaber combat. She could beat him with the force every time but Anakin needed her to be ready to fight Taris with both the force and her weapon.

"What constitutes a little better?" Ri-En asked Anakin as she stood in front of him waiting for his next instruction. She was beyond frustrated now but she used the force to calm herself, she needed her head on straight to beat Ezra.

"Well you're blocking more and running away less," Anakin offered, he knew from experience with Ahsoka that pointing out the good things always helped to calm young learning padawans. "You need to feel the lightsaber as though it is an extension of your arm, you are still chucking around with it like it is a foreign object." This was something he was really at a loss for teaching. Most padawans in the temple had this part figured out well before a master chose them, and Ahsoka had already been quite good when she was assigned to him. How was he going to fix Ri-En's fighting habits?

"Can we please just allow force powers back in the matches?" Ri-En asked him now, she wanted to knock her friend down a peg after all his wins. She realized it wasn't a very Jedi like emotion and she felt shame rushing through her. He could sense the many emotions she was releasing as he thought of what exactly to sat to encourage her next.

"The match rules will remain the same," Anakin said to her and holding a hand out for her lightsaber. She handed it to him and he felt the weight of it, it was perfectly created to fit her hands. How could she craft such a perfect weapon yet have such an aversion to it. He grabbed her arm and placed the lightsaber in her right hand. He then moved it's positioning in her hand. "Hold it like this, now reach your arm out to your side."

She listened to his instruction. He watched as she held it still and moved it out as if it was a part of her arm, now if she could understand that feeling they would be able to get a lot more out of the next match.

"Does that feel more like it is a part of you?" Anakin asked her now. She took a deep breath moving it again, it did feel more fluid.

"It is definitely better," she responded a little bit amazed by his simple adjustment in her grip of the weapon. She was still a bit frustrated with having to spend so much time on this, she wanted to keep advancing her force abilities but her new master wasn't giving in at all. The week before he had made her watch him and Kanan spar multiple days in a row, they were showing her all the lightsaber forms what which ones were effective for different situations. When she had tried the forms herself she had been all over the place. Ezra seemed to have a handle on most of the basics.

"Now just keep holding onto that feeling as you move," Anakin explained to her, "it can be as instinctual as your grasp on the force if you let it. Now don't back down." He then stepped back to see if Kanan was done instructing his own padawan. Kanan nodded to him and he turned to walk back to the wall of the room.

Ri-En turned to face Ezra again her arms reverting to their stiff hold. She breathed in and out steadily focusing on holding the lightsaber the way her master had instructed her to. Her heart was pounding now as Ezra made his first move. She caught his blade and countered which he blocked easily but she was surprised that she had found an opening way to counter his move. He swung at her again and she flipped away as she instinctually realized she wasn't going to be able to catch a good block.

She was far enough away so she rotated her lightsaber in her hand, getting the feel for the new grip. She focused on Ezra now as he waited for her move now. She would have to make it good. She moved towards him, her hands moving her lightsaber over her head for a downward swipe like she had seen her master use. Ezra blocked it and she didn't know what to do next. Anakin studied her next moves as she tired to get Ezra to back off from her own attack but he was catching her moves easily. Her hands were fast shifting back to her habit of holding it like a foreign object and Ezra was catching on to her.

She was moving a bit better as she kept correcting her on lightsaber grip. The two of them exchanged blows for a lot longer than the last four battles when Ezra hit her lightsaber at a bad time for her and it went flying out of her hands. He held up his lightsaber to her throat again, signaling the end of the spar.

"Mine again. I looks like lightsabers are more my thing than yours," Ezra said. Ri-En rolled her eyes and took a deep breath, instead of expressing her frustration in words she sent out a massive wave of force energy knocking him backwards. She was tired of being beaten by him when he was nowhere as near strong as her in what she believed mattered.

"Ezra!" Kanan shouted in shock. The young boy would have hit the wall if Anakin had not moved fast and stopped his movement with the force. and gently set him on the ground.

"That was out of line Ri-En!" Anakin exclaimed her expression was one of stubbornness and frustration. She was trying to release the emotions but they were very strong. She closed her eyes breathing in but she was very tense.

"That wasn't fair!" Ezra said now but Kanan grabbed his arm. "Why are you such a sore looser?" Ri-En ignored his whines.

"Not another word out of you," Kanan spoke to him, leading him out of the room. He knew that Anakin would address what happened and it was not up to him or Ezra to be involved. Between missions the past few weeks he had gotten to know Anakin a bit, he had great respect for the older Jedi and after seeing firsthand some of his training with Ri-En he realized that he was perfect for the girl. She was getting better at handling her lightsaber bit by bit and the emotions she tried to bury were coming up more and more. She thought releasing emotions into the force meant pushing them down, but they would resurface at the most unlikely times.

"You're not just frustrated about the match," Anakin spoke knowing that there was more going on here than what was on the surface. "what's going on?" Ahsoka had forewarned him that Ri-En always tried to deal with her problems on her own but for a master padawan relationship to work she would need to open up to him and tell him what was wrong.

"I'm not good with lightsabers," Ri-En reiterated the sentiment that she had been sharing throughout this process, "my best chance of winning against opponents is with the force alone!" He heard a bit of fear in her voice.

"Before the war there were many Jedi who chose the force over lightsabers," Anakin spoke thinking of things long passed, "They were skilled in so much more than simple fighting. There were hundreds of Jedi, and there were many who thought as you did." He remembered a couple of Jedi in particular. "But they never let up at learning the skills essential to fight with a lightsaber, because they knew it was valuable to know how to defend the innocent with the most elegant weapon in the universe." Her expression softened at his words, she knew all about the fall of the Jedi and how the galaxy had never been the same since loosing them.

"Even Master Yoda," Anakin continued, "the most skilled force user in the Jedi order, carried a lightsaber everywhere he went. He used it to save my life and your fathers at one point." He shuddered at the memory of the beginning of the war." He held his hand out using the force to pick up her weapon. He held it out to her now, hoping his words would end her conflict with her weapon. "your father would constantly tell me, don't loose this weapon, this weapon is your life. It's not a curse, you've got to stop looking at it like it is." She grabbed her lightsaber back from him.

"I think I understand," Ri-En replied. She twisted the weapon in her hand finding the grip that Anakin had showed her earlier, it felt better this way. She felt determination filling her, she could do this.

"Good," Anakin responded, "because I'm not going to let you give up on it. Especially not when you've been improving at such a fast rate."

"I am?" She asked, she didn't feel like she was getting much better and that was part of her frustration.

"You are," he reassured her, "but that doesn't mean you're not in trouble for breaking the rules. You could have really hurt Ezra." He said sternly, she didn't seem to be taking him too seriously at the moment because of her excitement that he said she had improved, as she looked away when another voice spoke up.

"I knew this match up was perfect," Ahsoka's said from the entrance of the room. She had been gone for the past two weeks on a mission for the rebels, Ri-En's face lit up at seeing her old master. Anakin suspected she had been standing there for a lot longer than Ri-En realized probably since Kanan and Ezra left. She was smiling brightly but she looked tired, her last mission had been need to know only and apparently very important for the rebels.

"You're back," Ri-En said with excitement ringing in her voice.

"Yes," Ahsoka said but she had immediate business to attend to, "I wish we could chat but I am here because leadership wants both of you for a mission."

"Really?" Ri-En asked with wonder in her eyes, "they chose us?" they hadn't been on a mission as master and padawan yet and she was looking forward to getting back out in the field. Five weeks of kitchen duty were starting to wear on her. The constant lightsaber practice did not help either. The past few weeks had been instrumental in getting Anakin in the know on the day to day of the rebellion. He was very reserved around all except his padawan but the leaders knew that they would have to trust him because Ahsoka was certain he could be trusted.

"The mission is important and you two are going to be perfect for handling it. You will have others on your team as well," Ahsoka responded taking note that the girl had just been sparing, "now go wash up and meet us in the briefing room in 30 minutes, I need to talk to your master." Ri-En nodded and immediately left to do as she was told.

"You look tired," Anakin said first, not knowing if it was a good way to open a conversation.

"It was a long mission," she responded a sadness in her eyes, "the empire was swarming around Kashyyk, they are constantly smashing wookie uprisings. We heard a rumor that there was a Jedi on the planet, it was the only lead I have had in months. Obi-Wan is completely missing and unfortunately the rumors were false and we have nothing more to go on." He was surprised that she told him what she had been doing, but now it made sense why she had Ri-En leave before telling him. Ahsoka was sensitive to the fact that Ri-En believed that once she brought Anakin back that her father would return. Ahsoka wasn't even sure he was alive anymore.

"If he's alive I'm sure we'll find him," Anakin said what she was thinking.

"If the empire doesn't find him first," Ahsoka replied sighing. They were silent for a second. "How are things going with Ri-En?" Ahsoka questioned now. She had tried to interrogate him on why he had gone into hiding but it became quickly clear that he wasn't going to tell her.

"She's headstrong," Anakin said with a smile, "she reminds me of you at times, Obi-Wan at others."

"What can I say," Ahsoka replied, "I spent more years with her than her mother and father combined." It was a sad truth about the galaxy they now lived in, Anakin shoved away thoughts of how all of this was his fault. He knew that in a world where the republic and the Jedi lived Ri-En wouldn't have ever been born.

"I think that she's missing her parents more now that she succeeded in bringing me back," Anankin said with a thoughtful expression on his face. "She's been a little frustrated lately and I've determined that there is something more going on than simple lightsaber troubles. You were right when you said she suppressed her emotions. I keep telling her that she needs to talk to me when something is bothering her, she just won't open up and tell me." Ahsoka nodded, she always thought understood Ri-En very well until Ri-En surprised her and showed a new side of herself.

"You know she would probably be more inclined to open up to you if you opened up to her about yourself," Ahsoka found herself saying before she could even think it through. He looked at her with a quizzical frown on his face. "I mean I understand that you do not want to talk about the past, it is painful, but maybe if you told her some stories about you and her father it could help her." His mind turned to the last time he had seen Obi-Wan, his master had been leaving to take out General Greivous. He wanted to go with him so badly but in the end the council had chosen to have him stay to spy in the snake that was Palpatine. Maybe if he had gone with Obi-Wan things would have been different but the amount of variables was daunting and they would never know. It was better not to live looking back but sometimes he wondered.

"I may try," Anakin said now, "but it's not easy."

"I know," Ahsoka responded. "Sometimes all we can do is try and if we succeed our results are overwhelmingly worth it."

"And if we fail everything falls apart," he spoke his expression getting distant. She felt in the force a great longing and a great sorrow coming from him.

"What happened Anakin?" she dared to ask again remembering if she didn't try than she would never know, "you were on Courscant when it all crashed, you have to know something!" He shook his head again, closing his eyes as if to block it out.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said walking toward the exit, "besides I should prepare for the briefing as well." She was never going to get the story, he wasn't going to let her know anything. She could only imagine what happened that was so awful that the bravest man she knew would run away because of it.

* * *

Ri-En was filled with giddy energy as she rushed through the halls of the great ship, she was ready for a mission and she had been for awhile. Not doing anything else but training was getting boring and she wanted some action. She rounded a bend and skidded into the briefing room, she was a few minutes late but she was ready. She had braided her hair intricately in the best style for the fights she loved to encounter on excursions off the floating base. All the heads in the room turned toward her when she entered, she smiled brightly and apologetically, Anakin raised his eyebrows at her as if to scold her for being late.

"Well now that you are all here," Commander Sato began looking a bit annoyed at the young girls abrupt entrance, he turned to Ahsoka beckoning her to begin. She walked over to take her place next to her master, which was still strange for her considering how long many years Ahsoka had drilled into her head that he was dead. She always believed she would find him, but she never would have believed it if someone told her that she was going to have the chosen one as her master.

"There are many rebel cells located across the galaxy as many of you know," Ahsoka began pulling up a space map of mid rim and outer rim systems, "we do our best to locate those cells and bring them into alliance with us as quickly as possible." She zoomed in on a planet that Ri-En had never really seen before. "We allied with a cell on Naboo a few months back and they have recently sent us distress signals calling for an extraction and we lost contact with them soon after." She pulled up a few more files with a short list of names and faces. "The cell is small, just 8 people but it has been effective in using Naboo's resources to help our cause." She then looked to Commander Sato to continue the rest of the presentation.

"The empire has recently increased their presence on Naboo," Sato spoke as Ahsoka leaned back to listen, "we believe they are after some of the water resources for their troops. Because of the increased empire presence we can not risk sending a large extraction team so that is where you come in." Ri-En turned to see who else was in the group and she was surprised to see only Sabine standing with them. Sabine was a Mandalorian girl who had joined up with the rebels through the Lothal cell. She was very reserved around Ri-En but she seemed like the kinda person who took awhile to warm up to those around her.

"We can't risk a large operation for these few, so we are sending a small team aboard a Corellian merchant ship. We believe that with the latest empire trading codes this ship can land on Naboo unnoticed and slip out just as easliy." Ri-En reminded herself that nothing was ever easy, despite the optimism of some of the commanders here. They never actually had simple mission plans go well, at least not the mission plans she had followed.

"We have chosen this team based on the skills you all possess," Ahsoka spoke up now gesturing to them, "Anakin knows the planet well and is an excellent pilot. Sabine is very skilled in undercover and Ri-En has great perceptions of her surroundings. You will leave in three hours, in that time you will be outfitted with a the ship and any supplies you may need for the journey back. Any questions." No one spoke up so she smiled at them.

"Be ready to leave by the scheduled time," Sato said saluting, "and may the force be with you." They nodded and as they were walking out Ri-En fell into step alongside Sabine, she had never worked with the older girl but she had heard great things about her work. The Mandalorian apparently loved explosives and was an artist who colored her hair unnatural colors all the time. Today it was odd to see her with a normal dark hair color, it was probably for the undercover mission at hand. She didn't know what to say to Sabine but her companion spoke first to her relief.

"They gave me the heads up on this earlier today," Sabine said to Ri-En, "they gave us some outfits to fit in with the culture of the planet." Ri-En nodded and she looked up to see her master was not in front of her any longer, she turned around to see him talking rather animately with Ahsoka near the entrance of the room they had just come from. She couldn't make out the emotions she was seeing him display. Sabine wasn't stopping so she kept walking with her, they would be working together so she might as well start getting to know her.

"Have you ever been there?" Ri-En asked her, she was curious about the planet. Her master had gotten tense when they mentioned which one they were sending them to. She wondered if he had fought there before, perhaps in the clone wars.

"No," Sabine responded, "but I've heard a great deal about it. Apparently it has some of the most beautiful land in the whole galaxy." Ri-En wondered if Sabine knew anything else about Naboo.

"Do you know if there were any battles there during the Clone Wars?" Ri-En asked, fishing for the information she would need to determine what might set off her masters emotions about the planet. He was a very interesting person, not as Jedi like as Ahsoka and more of a loose canon.

"I think there were a couple of interesting things that happened there at that time," Sabine replied thinking about the stories she knew, "but I don't know any details or anything." Ri-En then realized she would have to dig up this information in any way she could before they left. It wasn't like the rebels had libraries of information, but maybe some of the older veterans would know something.

"Well I've gotta run and pack," Ri-En said waving as she turned down another hall, "see you soon."

* * *

 **Next chapter they will depart for the planet!**

 **Please leave a review! I am very excited about the format in this story with many sub stories happening! I hope you guys enjoy what is to come!**

 **REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW. There are a lot of you following and I love it! I would also love to hear from you!  
**

 **-AWinterChill**


	12. Naboo Resistance: Of Destiny

**Chapter 12 - Of Destiny**

 **Naboo Resistance Part 2**

* * *

It did not matter what happened with the rebels the missions never let up for her. She didn't get much time to rest before she set out alone on another flight to another world for supplies. This mission was routine and wouldn't be as high stress as her last one but it was still one where she wouldn't get much rest unless her friends forced her to rest on the planet. She exited hyperspace above her target and smiled at the familiar atmosphere of Onderon. Her larger freighter was hard to fly alone but she always wanted to run these missions alone for personal reasons.

Onderon had been her home long after she left the order, her friends there had taken her in and after the formation of the empire they had helped her once she had left to help out with rebel cells across the galaxy. After traveling with Obi-Wan and Siri she didn't come back to Onderon very many times but she had remained in contact with her friends on the planet. The rebels were in need of supplies and out of desperation she had contacted the planet for help, they gave her aid a couple times a year and they had recently sent a message that they had a batch of supplies ready. Some of the supplies they gave was relief aid for other planets in need. Places like Kashyyyk needed the relief with the empire constantly hounding and destroying them. Lothal also needed some help but it was far more dangerous there at the moment.

She descended into the atmosphere, her mind traveling back to her former master and his mission. He had been upset with her for not forewarning him that the mission was going to be on Naboo, he didn't try to get out of it but he seemed very angry about it. She had tried to get a reason out of him but she got none. She assumed it had something to do with his former friend Padme Amidala, she had been killed at the onset of the collapse of the republic and the official reason was that a Jedi had killed her. Ahsoka had known Padme very well but Anakin had been very good friends with the Naboo senator. His first solo mission as a padawan had been to protect her from a bounty hunter who was trying to kill her right before the beginning of the clone wars. Ahsoka had always thought the two of them were very similar. They were both reckless about fighting for what they believed in and often subverted expectations by breaking the rules to accomplish what they believed was necessary.

When it had been announced that Padme had been killed Ahsoka had mourned her but now that Anakin was reacting to a simple mission from Naboo her mind was reflecting more on their relationship. Anakin had always protected Padme on missions they had been on together and many times Ahsoka wondered if he cared about her more than he should. Of course he would hate going to Naboo, it would remind him so much of the friend he had lost.

What puzzled her now was the report that Padme had been killed by a Jedi, that meant that something more had gone on in Padme's death. No Jedi would extend a hand to kill someone like her, she was a friend to the order and a senator who always fought for peace. She had to have been killed in the crossfire between the order and Darth Sidious, and if that was the case how had she gotten herself involved with that situation? She would have obviously with the Jedi when they were declared criminals but she would have been smart enough to keep her mouth shut. Did it have to do with Anakin? Perhaps she had been the one to help him escape the planet and if Sidious had found out she would have easily been killed for it. That was the only thing Ahsoka could think of. It would explain Anakin's guilt to a certain extent when it came to Naboo.

She entered codes for her landing ascent as she swept her ship over the planet toward the landing platform she always docked out. This planet was a safe place for her to retreat to when she really did need a vacation since it had almost no empire presence. They had representation in the galactic senate and were considered to peaceful to really be helping the rebellion. She rested her mind about Anakin and what he could have gotten himself into now. She knew that he and Ri-En were perfectly capable of handling the simple mission and she should not continue to worry about them.

She finished the sequences to land her ship and hit the buttons to open the ramp. She let the force surround her and calm her as she walked toward the exit. She stepped down the ramp and smiled brightly as she saw who was waiting for her. Lux stood alone, no doubt he had just wanted to see her alone before she met with the people who had gathered the supplies.

"It's good to see you again Ahsoka," he said and she smiled at that. They had been on opposite sides of the clone wars when they first met and their meeting had changed them both, they began to see the world with different eyes. They began to realize that each side of the war had good people on it, that was something Ashoka wondered about now with the empire. Were there people siding with the empire who were good or were they really all like the monsters she had met on the battlefield.

"I feel the same," Ahsoka said taking the hand he held out. Their alliance had gotten her through a lot of rough spots in the years. "I have a lot to discuss with you, I am in need of a listening ear at this time." He smiled as they walked off the ramp and towards the main city.

"Well I've heard I am good at listening." This was good to hear, she knew this trip would be a good time to process the information she didn't understand about her master, maybe Lux could help her figure out her new puzzle.

* * *

Naboo was one of the most beautiful planets Ri-En had ever seen, she watched from the windows as Anakin expertly moved their ship through the atmosphere and into the main city of Theed. She was grinning ear to ear when she stepped off the ship and breathed in the air of the lush planet. She was tired of visiting boring outer rim planets and this beautiful place was a nice change. Their trip had been uneventful, Anakin had gotten them past imperial checkpoints easily and she had spent most of her time practicing her hold on her lightsaber. Sabine had talked to her about about combat styles but most of the trip Ri-En was alone in the larger cargo room moving her saber and getting a feel for it.

Anakin had come back at one point and shown her a few more moves with her lightsaber but he seemed very troubled. She didn't ask him about it because she knew she hated being bothered when she was trying to process through something. Now she turned to see he had hung back with Sabine while she was the only one who rushed out taking in the amazing architecture around her. She loved the sunlight and the freshness of the air, she had never seen anything like this world. She had changed into robes like the ones they wore on this planet to blend in and apparently the plan was for them to split up to find the rebels based on the photos they had in their mission briefing.

"This is amazing!" Ri-En declared spinning around in the sunshine. The waterfalls she had seen from the ship were enchanting and the green all around was so lush. She had never dreamed a planet like this existed. This was the side to Ri-En that Anakin had heard a lot about but hadn't seen much of when she was frustrated about her lightsaber. She had a lot of life to her and people said she had boundless energy.

"Well don't get used to it," Sabine commented, "we'll never have a base on a planet like this."

"We might," Ri-En responded optimistically though she realized Sabine was probably correct. They would probably be relegated to barren planets or planets with deep forests and dangerous creatures.

"I'm not really keen on the idea of completely splitting up," Anakin said as R6 rolled off the ship and right into Ri-En. She laughed at the droid and patted the top of its metal shell like it was a child. "Ri-En go with Sabine and I'll take R6, two groups should accomplish this just fine." R6 was the one to protest, he wanted to go with Ri-En to keep an eye on her but Anakin didn't want to leave her with just a droid. If she was with Sabine he would feel much better about this. There were quite a few imperials on this planet and most of them were here in Theed.

"R6 it's not your job to question the plans we make," Ri-En said in a kind voice to her droid, "I know we made a good team on Abafar but now we're playing by the rules so i'll be just fine, you go with Anakin." The droid seemed to protest a little more but it moved beside Anakin. The exchange made Anakin wonder what had happened to R2 after he had been forced to flee Courscant without the droid or anything else by the clothes on his back and his lightsaber.

Unpleasant memories kept catching him and he pushed them away. This was the problem with being pulled out of hiding. Everything around him seemed to remind him of the past and here on Naboo he was in for a whole lot of reminders of things he would rather bury.

"So we'll meet back here in 4 hours to report what we've found," Sabine spoke up now, she was feeling a bit like a fish out of water with these two. She was normally sent on missions with the rebels she knew, the Ghost crew. They had told her that she would be with newcomers and that she would be perfect for co-leading it with their new Jedi ally. She had respect for Skywalker because Kanan had told the crew some stories he knew on a few of their most recent missions. On the other hand Anakin had heard in the base about how effective Sabine was on her missions, he trusted her to take care of Ri-En.

"Sounds good to me," Anakin responded looking at Ri-En for a moment, "listen to Sabine when you're out there and if you sense anything dangerous be extra careful. Stay together." He did sense something strange about the planet around him. Being back here was a very odd thing for him, but he did his best to keep his thoughts under control for now. Actually seeing more of Theed was going to be difficult. As his first mission with the rebels, they couldn't have picked a worse planet to send him to. No one knew what this planet meant to him, so he couldn't blame them for this mission but he felt like the force was playing a cruel trick on him. Of course the force had played many games with him over the years.

"I'll be careful master," Ri-En responded. He hoped she would be. This mission was going to be a good way for him to evaluate her strengths and weaknesses going forward. He hoped to understand her more and to somehow figure out what had been bothering her all this time.

The two groups started walking in different directions and as they walked Ri-En couldn't contain her awe about everything around her. The plant life was amazing and the stone buildings spired up in beautiful domes. The sound of water was heard throughout the city, it was coming from the great waterfalls that she had seen when they flew over the city. Sabine was all business about their mission but inside she wished she could have the same joy and optimism that the younger girl had. She had seen too much bad in the galaxy to get excited about the appearance of a beautiful planet. She pulled out a data pad and opened some files on the rebels they were looking for as they walked. They didn't have much of a lead except that the group was located in Theed.

"How do we even really begin," Sabine muttered. She should have a clue about these things, she was a bounty hunter once. The information that they were given said the rebels used tunnels under the city to get places and foil the imperials. The imperials had apparently figured it out and taken over the tunnel network, which was a brilliant move on their part in restoring 'order' to the planet. "I'd like to get a look at the tunnels in this area. Maybe it will give us an idea of their operations."

"That sounds like a good plan," Ri-En responded, she didn't really know where to begin either. She normally relied on the force to lead her where she needed to go. She was distracted by the planet and by the feelings she was getting from the force. There was danger here but it wasn't like anything she had ever felt before it was a light and darkside energy calling to her. It was shouting to her and for a moment increased.

She stopped for a moment turning to the right toward a break and down a different street. She realized the force was trying to tell her something and it was about something bigger than just finding the rebels. She cleared her mind reaching out to grasp ahold of what it was trying to tell her. She felt like someone important was here and it could be vital to their success that she found out what it was, she grabbed the force around her to immerse herself in it but in that moment the feeling left without a trace that it had ever been there. She took a deep breath trying to find it again but she couldn't. The force was all around her now, she could feel every living thing in the power that she had but the one she had felt had disappeared.

"What's wrong?" Sabine asked concerned by her companions sudden stop. She knew the Jedi had many strange abilities that could be a help on missions but sometimes they spoke cryptically about what they were perceiving around them.

"Nothing?" Ri-En said with a confused tone in her voice opening her eyes and staring in front of her. This street led off into the distance, who knows where it ended. "There was something strange coming from over here but its gone now." She felt an urge to run toward where that feeling had been, like it was important to more than just the mission.

"Well let's keep going," Sabine said not knowing how to handle what the girl was saying. Ri-En just nodded and followed Sabine but her mind was flooded with confusion about what to do now. They walked on without saying much until they reached one of the main aquifer entrances. There were imperials swarming as they walked casually through the market nearest to it. Sabine marked it off on the city map and they kept waking out of the area. Ri-En released a breath she didn't realize she had been holding as they turned on a street with significantly less imperials.

"Do you think they might have been caught?" Ri-En asked.

"That's definitely a possibility, but we can't jump to conclusions about what is going on here." Sabine looked around the street, the people seemed uneasy about something, but that was normal on worlds with empire occupation.

"I think we need to search the markets for our allies," Ri-En spoke voicing her opinion, "they would be waiting for extraction, and what better place to blend in than in the markets." Sabine disagreed, with the empire presence they had likely gone completely underground.

"They're not in the markets. They were worried their identities were compromised," Sabine replied as they moved down a street with another tunnel entrance. This one had less imperials around it.

"I felt something back there," Ri-En said as her mind went back to what the force was saying, "maybe we can split up, I'll go search my hunch and you can continue mapping the tunnels?" Sabine turned to look at the girl now, she was overeager and really reaching if she expected Sabine to disobey a direct command from her master. They were to stick together.

"That's not happening," Sabine said to her but she didn't elaborate so Ri-En just followed her on. Sabine suddenly stopped her eyes locked on an older building, she held up her data pad swiping through transmissions they had given her from the rebels. Ri-En felt something strange again but it wasn't coming from the building she turned around it was behind where they had come from. She focused on the feeling, a presence in the force that she had never felt before. It was confusing she didn't sense the dark side or the light side from this presence.

"They're here," Ri-En suddenly said a franticness filling her voice as the feeling faded from her mind. Sabine turned back to the Jedi now, she was concerned about what Ri-En kept doing.

"Whose here?" Sabine asked glancing around.

"I don't know," Ri-En responded as it ended she then turned back toward the building that Sabine had noticed. She walked forward to it's entrance and fearlessly just walked in. Sabine was shocked by her actions but she followed her.

"I think this was their hideout," Sabine said to Ri-En, "we shouldn't be caught here." Ri-En looked around the room for clues, she was tired of just walking around and mapping stuff. They had to find the rebel group and extract them soon if there was another force user on this planet. An inquisitor would easily recognize her if they saw her.

The building was empty but Ahsoka had always taught Ri-En to look closer at the world around her. She was patient enough to wait for a clue to show in front of her. She saw it now, under the window the walls looked scuffed. She walked to it putting her hands on the wall and feeling it, reaching with the force for some guidance on what to do next. She ran her fingers along a crevice and down to the floor boards. Then saw saw it, a floor board that wasn't connected to the wall, it was unnoticeable unless you were right on top of it. She quickly pulled up the loose wood and gazed down into it.

"What did you find?" Sabine asked a little shocked at what Ri-En had fast unearthed. Ri-En pulled out a data pad that was out of power, it had to have some information on it.

"We have to get this back to the ship," Ri-En said, she was convinced the rebels had left it behind for them to find.

"I agree," Sabine replied, "let's go." As they walked back as quickly as they could Ri-En's eyes were diverted to something she saw in the shadows. The force called to her again, she watched Sabine's hurry in front of her and turned away. She was silent and quick as she rushed out of Sabine's sight toward the feeling in the force, she had to find out what it was. She had to know who it was.

* * *

Tatooine was always a place that she had hoped to avoid entirely but that was not an option anymore. Her ship exited lightspeed beautifully over the atmosphere and she looked down upon the beige planet with curiosity. How did beings live on such a desolate place? She pulled at some of the controls on her ship as an alert came up on her monitor. The boy next to her quickly looked at the controls he was helping her with. Yoda had not been enthusiastic about Luke leaving with Siri but he had allowed it to Luke's excitement. She was a bit concerned about what they were going to find on this planet. It had been where Obi-Wan and Luke had taken refuge for a whole year. Maybe she could find information on what he was after when he decided to go headlong at Palpatine.

"We've got incoming," Luke said a little suprised about what he was seeing. She glanced out the side windows and saw what was coming.

"Star destroyer!" She exclaimed, she wouldn't have expected imperials this far out of the mid rim. She quickly made sure their shields were up and hoped that the ship would ignore their small freighter, but if Taris was on board she would sense them.

"They're scanning us," Luke spoke a hint of tension in his voice.

"Stay calm," Siri said to him as she used the force to try and cloud their presence. The last thing they needed was to be pursued by that Sith again. She the saw a signal on her console, they weren't ignoring them. They were hailing them.

"Unidentified craft, please state your business," the imperial voice said from the line. Siri hit the buttons to respond.

"This is Andrea Hail," Siri spoke as calmly as she could, "I am from the planet Ryloth, visiting my sister on the planet below." Luke did not understand how the Jedi could lie so easily and remain so calm. He was trying to use the force to calm himself but his heart was pounding in his chest. He hoped they could get out of this one but if they had any information on the craft the they would bring them in for questioning. Imperials were known to shoot first, ask questions later.

"They've locked on to us!" Luke shouted, Siri then realized that her days of traveling the galaxy leisurely were over. Taris had logged her ship from her trip to Mustafar. She knew that trip was going to cost her later.

"Evasive maneuvers," Siri shouted, their shields were up. Their only hope was to get on the planet below, there they could hide among the criminals of the universe.

"Tie fighters!" Luke exclaimed.

"Wonderful," Siri said, "get the hyperdrive up, we're getting out of here."

"But Tatooine?" Luke questioned.

"We can't get down there like this, let's make a short hop a system over and return when they've gone!" He knew she was right, it wasn't going to work out well for them if they stuck around. The ship couldn't fight off a start destroyer and the mass of tie fighters heading towards them.

"Coordinates logged," he said, he had chosen a spot to run to fast. Hopefully the start destroyer didn't wait for their return.

"Jumping now!" Siri shouted as their ship took off into space, leaving behind their best chance to get what Obi-Wan had left on the planet below. She wasn't certain that they would be able to come back this way and with the empire all over the outer rim things would be more tense. They were searching for the rebels, that had to be the reason. Luke looked frustrated now, like he had failed her in being unable to do anything to get them too the planet.

"Hopefully the empire can not track where we jumped to," Luke spoke his thoughts now.

"Hopefully they have more important things to do than to try and chase after us," she replied, in her mind she was hoping that wherever they were the rebels were okay.

* * *

The changes in the city did not surprise him one bit. Though Ri-En was enchanted by it's beauty all Anakin saw was a shadow of what it had been. There was a dark feeling in the air, a sorrow and an oppression that had not been there before. The planet had been peaceful and bright and beautiful but now the empire occupied it and there was a hopelessness on the face of it's people. Storm troopers were on almost every street, this was the cost of what the rebel cell had hoped to achieve. When the empire retaliated it didn't take half measures.

He vividly remembered his first time on the planet as a child, he had fought to end their suffering all those years ago. He was just nine years old then, he had been amazed at the green all around him and the elaborate design of the buildings but those had paled in comparison to the beauty of their queen. Padme was the embodiment of all that was good an pure in the galaxy, and when she had died she had taken the good with her. That was what was wrong with the planet around him, that she was not there to protect it. She would have never stood for this, she would have fought the empire till it had to leave her world alone.

He didn't want to think about her, but he noticed as each day went by that her hold on him was decreasing. There was a time where he would have fought to hold onto her memory but he didn't want the pain and guilt anymore. There was so much for him to focus on in the present, there was no time to be concerned with the past. He sighed as he ran a joke through his mind about how old Master Yoda would be proud of him, it only took him 15 whole years of solitude to learn a little about how to let go. Too bad Yoda was among those who had lost their lives over his incompetence.

The droid next to him beeped incessantly about Ri-En's safety and Anakin largely ignored him, his eyes and senses trained to watch for the people he was searching for. He didn't know what clues he would find just walking around, he could only hope the rebels had survived the empire occupation. If they did find them, how were they going to get them out? The empire knew who they were, and they would recognize them the moment they came out of hiding.

They could have left Theed by now, they could be anywhere on the planet. He had the sinking feeling the reason they couldn't communicate with the rebels was because they were on the run through the swamps which was probably a safer place for them than here in the city. He would have to bring this possibility up to Ri-En and Sabine when they met back up with each other on the ship. Their landing permit would expire in two days and they would have to leave the planet. Perhaps the best way to go was to ask the people who were loyal to their planet to help them.

Anakin had done his homework on the planet, the current queen was named Grios Zalmeda, she was not elected but rather put in place by the empire to keep the planet under it's thumb. She was nothing more than a figurehead to keep the peace, it was Governor Landis who was the one making decisions about the planet. The rebels had worked hard to try and depose the Governor in order to try and force an election for a real leader. They had failed miserably.

He checked the time on his chorometer, he had been wandering around for almost four hours and had found nothing, not a single trace of the rebels. This plan was pointless, he doubted the girls had found anything on their side of town. He turned to walk back to the ship and shake off any thoughts of failure from his mind. He was leading this mission, he would have to come up with a plan to make up for their lost time today. It didn't help that this was his first mission of any sort in 15 years nor that he just felt like he needed a break to meditate.

He hadn't gotten much of any time to himself in the past 6 weeks, there were people constantly wanting to speak to him on the rebel base. If he wasn't training Ri-En, he was getting briefings on the state of the galaxy or being followed around by people who wanted to hear stories about the Clone Wars. Ahsoka told him to try and be nice to those people but he largely tried to ignore the non-Jedi beings aboard their floating base.

He didn't want to talk about the Clone Wars. Though he had seen many triumphs during them he hated thinking about them now knowing that they were a farce. They were designed by Palpatine to create enough Chaos to bring about his rule, his empire. He didn't want to think about how they ended but they fascinated many people who hadn't fought in them. The hadn't seen the horrors that full scale war brought, so they couldn't understand his own reservations about the rebellion.

He made it back to the ship, expecting to find Ri-En and Sabine, instead he found a pacing Sabine holding a data pad and muttering about something. She stopped when she saw him, there was worry on her face. Where was Ri-En? Was she aboard the ship? Unlikely when she loved the planet they were on as much as she did.

"We found what we believe to be one of the Rebels old hideouts," Sabine started she wasn't happy about what she had to tell Anakin next, "Ri-En found an old data pad that wasn't charged, we decided to head back to charge it and she wandered off! I told her that we couldn't split up but the moment I wasn't watching she wandered off." It was like she wanted to explain what happened before Anakin figured it out himself. He had hoped Ri-En would be sensible enough to follow orders but it seemed she really was the kind of person to always run with her gut feelings. She was very much like Siri, much less like Obi-Wan.

"Why weren't you paying closer attention..." he began then realized this was more Ri-En's fault than Sabine's. "Never mind, do you have any idea where she went." He felt the familiar hum of anger in his veins, why had his padawan just wandered off like that? She could be anywhere in the city. She could have been discovered.

"I have no idea," Sabine replied, "I searched for her until the time limit was almost up, then I came back here. I figured it would be better to let you know what was going on than to leave you hanging." He breathed in his anger focusing on it then he worked on letting it go. He could not have his judgment clouded at a time like this. He reached into the force, searching for guidance in this matter. He felt in their bond that whatever Ri-En was doing she was okay.

"You stay here and keep working on information about the rebels," he said to her clenching his fists in frustration now that he realized he would have to waste time off their objective to track down Ri-En. "I'm going to go find her." R6 started beeping incessantly and Anakin wished he could power the annoying droid down. What he wouldn't give to have R2 back with him instead of this nanny droid of an astromech.

"Are you serious?" Sabine asked a little surprised at what the droid had said. Anakin hadn't been listening but R6 repeated himself over and over as he opened a compartment revealing the item he was communicating about. Ri-En had left her lightsaber with the droid.

"Obi-Wan," Anakin muttered frustrated to the air around him as he grabbed the lightsaber from the droid, "your daughter is nothing like you."

* * *

There were more shadows in the street and Ri-En began to wonder how long she had been wandering around the Naboo city. The feeling she got in the force kept coming and going and she no longer knew where she was, she did know she had to keep searching. The force never spoke to her idly and last time she had gotten a direction this strong she had found Anakin. She wished that R6 was with her now, her astromech droid would have argued but still would have followed her wherever she wanted to go. She hoped Sabine and Anakin were not worried about her, she would find them when she encountered who she was looking for. Whoever that was.

She didn't let her mind wander to any possibility that she would find her parents on this planet. It was too dangerous to lay low on a mid rim planet controlled by the empire with a strong empire presence. They themselves were going to leave the planet if they didn't find anything in two days. She did not want that to happen, she dearly wanted to find the rebels who they were searching for. These people had given much up to help their planet against the empire and she didn't want to leave them without hope. The feeling hit her again a very strong force presence. It could be an inquisitor but she never felt like this when they showed up. She turned down a large market street. There were people bustling about because sunset was coming soon and at sunset the market closed and everyone was on a curfew to return to their homes. This was the most blatant sign that the rebels had not been caught yet.

She walked through the crowd, her mind lost in the feeling as it faded. She tried to hold onto it but it quickly left her. She began to wonder if she made the right decision. Her master would certainly be angry with her for wandering off, she would probably get more kitchen duty at the rebel base. She didn't watch where she was going because she kept looking at peoples faces around her and she found herself colliding with someone and falling to the ground.

"Watch where you are going!" it was a storm trooper that caused her to freeze. Her mind went back to her cover and she realized she had forgotten her lightsaber.

"I'm sorry sir," she quickly responded but he was still towering over her. She wondered what his expression was like underneath his helmet. To her relief the storm trooper walked off and calmed knowing he didn't have any idea who she was. She had to get off the ground, there were people all around and some of them were staring at her now.

"Do you need a hand," a silky voice came from behind her. She turned her head to see a boy who wasn't that much older than she was, he had dark black hair that was cropped short against his head. His grey eyes held a kindness but also a mystery, he was dressed simply like the lower class on this planet. He reached a hand out to her and she took it, he helped her up and she brushed the dust off her dress.

"You're not from around here are you?" he asked. She looked at him, wondering why it was so obvious on every planet she went to that she didn't belong.

"I.." she began unsure of what to say about it. She couldn't risk trying to mind trick him, she doubted it would work on him.

"You just look confused about the market," he spoke quickly, "are you from the other side of town?" She turned looking back down the street she came from, she would have to find a way back to her ship soon as the sun was setting.

"Yes," she responded to his question quickly. She hoped he accepted the idea that she was from the other side of the city, it really was kinda large. Maybe people didn't mix up too much with the empire having such an iron grip.

"I'm sorry," he spoke now, "I haven't introduced myself, I am Jay Carras." He held a hand out for her to shake and she took it, he was kind enough to stop for her so she might as well be kind back.

"Ri-En," she said her name.

"Nice to meet you Ri-En," he responded. She felt the strange surge in the force again and quickly turned wondering where it was coming from. She paused turning to see what was happening around her. She knew she was running out of time to get back.

"I should be going," she said to her new friend looking him straight in the eye, using the force to search for his motives, "I have to get home before curfew." He understood that. It seemed he was really just being kind because he was kind.

"Where is that at?" he asked her.

"Near the spaceport."

"You better hurry then, that's a pretty far walk."

"I know" she wasn't sure but she felt like he was important, the force wasn't radiating off him like the feeling she was getting from somewhere in the city. He might be one of the rebels they were searching for. Some of them were very young and she hadn't really examined the pictures closely. She should consult her leaders first before saying anything. She hoped she could find him again.

"Well it was nice to meet you," he said cordially, "have a safe walk back, don't run into any more storm troopers." She smiled, and he laughed a little in response to his own joke.

"I'll be careful," she replied, "it was nice to meet you too, Jay." She then turned back down the street as she was walking her mind wondered more about him. She turned around and saw that he was walking the opposite direction as her.

Jay walked on amazed at how fast his mission was turning in the direction he wanted it to. He had found one of his targets, they had sent Jedi to this planet, it was too easy with Ri-En being on the team. What he did not know was that at this moment he had met someone who would drastically change his future, someone whose destiny would transform his own.

* * *

 **There have been some questions about when Anakin will find out that his children are still alive, it will be a while, there are many adventures ahead for Anakin and Ri-En and also for Luke and Siri before the group will encounter each other. It may be a long time before he finds Leia and I promise I will make each meeting powerful and special.**

 **Jay Carras is going to be an important character in this story, so expect much more of him.**


	13. Naboo Resistance: Into the Swamps

**Chapter 13 - Into the Swamps**

 **Naboo Resistance Part 3**

* * *

Siri flipped a few switched aboard her ship. Her senses were listening to the force intently, waiting for a peace within it to allow her to move forward and return to Tatooine. It was unfortunate that the empire now had her ship on file. She would need to find a criminal world to sell it off in soon, she hoped she could get a good deal on a faster ship when she did. She hoped that they hadn't put a bounty on her, being as skilled a Jedi as she was she could blend in but in the case of a bounty she would have to find a detailed disguise. Luke seemed restless but as usual he didn't have much to say.

She found herself wondering more about him day by day, she had no idea where Obi-Wan had found him. He seemed frightened by the galaxy around them at times and at other times he was ready to charge into it like he was invincible. Yoda believed in the boy and worked to train him in the arts of the force that Siri could not teach him, the patience and serenity that she did not possess. Her and Yoda balanced his training well and she focused on teaching him many different forms of lightsaber combat.

Yoda had told her that he would help with the boys training but that with Obi-Wan gone she would have to take on the more traditional master role to him. Nothing about their situation was traditional at all. With no order behind them and the empire constantly hunting them, Siri trained Luke in the most important things to living in the current galaxy first. The arts of blending in on whatever planet they were on and the art of disappearing when enemies were around. The arts of deception and how to properly use mind tricks without attracting attention. He caught onto her lessons quick but he still didn't trust her with information about his past, nor the inner workings of his mind. He was a strange one.

"You should get some rest," she said to him, "we might be out here for awhile." He had been fidgeting with a broken data pad throughout most of the trip, she didn't think it was fixable but he was more patient with it than she was. He wasn't one to discard things, he worked with them to try and repair damage.

"I can't rest," he replied picking up another tool near him to mess with a few more wires. She looked at him curiously.

"What's wrong?" He looked up out the windows into the light speed around them, a haunted expression on his face that seemed to age him beyond his fifteen years. She felt him moving the force around himself, his abilities with it astounded her. He was advancing in them too quickly to be normal. Obi-Wan had trained him some but that couldn't account to how strong he was becoming.

"I just wonder sometimes if we will ever find Obi-Wan," Luke responded. "Sometimes I wonder if he would want us to keep searching for him, or if we should move on." She knew that feeling all too well, but something in the force drove her on. She was torn between the desire to find her daughter and the desire to find her husband. One thing for certain was that the force was on her side for the search she had chosen and Ri-En was as safe as she could be with the rebels, wherever they were.

"You've never told me how you met Obi-Wan," she was curious about this detail and this conversation was a good lead in. She had found Obi-Wan and Luke on a planet in the mid-rim, they were swarmed by the empire troops on the planet and Obi-Wan had sacrificed his freedom for her and Luke to escape. He had never had a chance to tell her Luke's story but he had instilled into her Luke's importance and she had seen the boys power firsthand.

"He saved me," it was a simple answer but Luke didn't seem to want to elaborate as he closed the back panel of the data pad as hit the button to power it on. To Siri's surprise it started, he had fixed it. Obi-Wan did not teach him that and she certainly hadn't.

"What planet did you come from?" she asked another question hoping to get something that she could actually work with. He looked at her now, starting to realize that she wasn't going to drop it like she had all the other times. He remembered vividly where he had been when Obi-Wan had found him, he was five years old when the Jedi had rescued him from the darkness and he discovered the light. He never wanted to go back to being a captive, trapped in something he didn't understand. He had felt safe for the first time in his life when Obi-Wan rescued him.

"Dathomir was where he found me," Luke said to her. "I was five years old." This puzzled her, what was the child doing on Dathomir? She knew it was the site of an imperial prison, one she didn't dare try to infiltrate again. She had initially searched there for Obi-Wan at one point after she had dropped Luke off on Degobah. What had compelled Obi-Wan to visit the planet? He seemed to know what she was wondering, she knew she did not have to ask further. He would tell her if he was inclined to, and no amount of asking would get him to say more than what he wanted to say.

"The emperor wanted to make me the next Sith in line," he stated now, he knew that the more she knew about him the better for both of them. They hadn't been fighting together long but him holding back was hindering how they worked together. "He had someone there training me. Obi-Wan found out somehow and rescued me." Without Obi-Wan there they would never find out how he had figured out Luke's whereabouts, nor how he realized Luke's importance. She knew Yoda had long ago figured out who Luke was and what was going on, but he had not shared that knowledge with her, saying the boy would tell her in time.

"It must've been hard to trust him at first," she commented. She looked at his eyes now, they were familiar. It was hard to really pinpoint what she saw in them, but she had seen it somewhere before.

"Not at all," Luke replied, "when he came for me I felt free and when he started training me it felt right." She understood what he was describing, the bonds between master and padawan could not be explained in mere words. It was what the force had willed and it was right for both of them. She looked at his profile as he worked on the data pad and that sinking feeling that he looked familiar filled her. He was growing up more and more each day and Obi-Wan was missing it.

Her mind wandered to the apprentice Obi-Wan had lost, his reason for leaving when he did. He never believed that Anakin had died and now she wondered why her mind had wandered here, was it the simplicity that Anakin and Luke were both Obi-Wan's apprentices? Was it something more. She looked at the boy again and he turned and glanced at her, his eyes. His eyes were Anakin's eyes.

* * *

Frustrated was an understatement, it the force wasn't constantly letting him know Ri-En was alright he would have lost control of his anger. He had stormed back to the ship when he realized curfew was falling on the city and after answering to Sabine about his inability to find Ri-En he had returned to his room on the ship to meditate. It was difficult for him to clear his mind and to clear away all the emotions that had been sticking to him since leaving Abafar and the emotions that this planet brought. He fought the battle in his mind and finally reached a sense of calm on the sea of his soul. This was the only way he could keep to the path of the Jedi, because it was his emotions that could launch him over to the side of himself he didn't want to be.

Wherever Ri-En was she was safe. Perhaps she found the rebels. Perhaps she just made friends. With a clear mind he could look at the situation calmly and determine what his next move would be. There was so much about the planet that he was curious about. He knew his mission was to not get involved with the state of the planet, be he couldn't help but hope that he could do some good before they left. It was all going to work out just fine. He would find Ri-En when the night was over. When daylight came he would use the force and their bond to find her. He had been too clouded and frantic to do that before and she seemed to be able to block him out which wasn't too surprising considering he was having trouble getting her to really communicate as a padawan should.

She was going to get several lectures in the near future. Being a master again was so strange. After Ahsoka he was done, the pain of having her walk away was too much for him to ever want to experience again. He wasn't good at letting go and allowing people into his life meant that he had more people he could loose. He couldn't resist doing what the force was telling him, he had to train Ri-En and with that agreement came a lot of adjustments. He remembered all the things Obi-Wan would tell him when he was a padawan, those were the ideas he needed to instill into Ri-En. He wanted to do things differently this time around. He wanted to be different than he had been before.

If someone had told him when he was still a kid that meditation would he his great solace in his late 30s, he would have called that person crazy. He felt at one with the force, and at peace in this place in his mind. It was the only retreat he could get from the thoughts that tried to plague him. It was his only freedom.

A noise at the door interrupted him, he was not to happy to be interrupted but it couldn't be helped. They were on mission and he wasn't the only one who was frustrated about the current situation. He stood up and used the force to open the lock and the door. Sabine stepped into the room, she was carrying the data pad that Ri-En had found in that old building.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Data pad's all charged," she said leaning on the door frame, "It was encrypted which too me some time to crack, but Ri-En made a good find here. The rebels left us files on their ops and get this, a map to the middle of the swamps. Maybe that is why we can't find any other sign of them here." She held the data pad out to him and he took it. The map was very detailed, it showed quite a bit of the forests surrounding Theed. He recognized some of the landmarks, and thought it had been so long he knew where the map was pointing to. He had a feeling in the force, he would find Ri-En near there.

"We'll have to go their first thing tomorrow," he replied.

"What about Ri-En?" she quickly asked, she wasn't so sure about this plan.

"If I know Ri-En, she'll find a way to be there," he replied. That girl had good instincts she would find a way to meet up with them where the mission objective was. That didn't change the fact that she was in the wrong. She would be in big trouble when they did find her.

* * *

Ri-En wandered down the streets carefully and slowly. The sun had set and she had missed her times up and the curfew on the city had used the force to listen to the patrols as they passed each street and she stayed in the shadows as she moved slowly through it. She felt like the ship was close, but more of the streets looked the same. She wondered why she had allowed herself to be drawn away from the mission, now she was lost and unsure of how to get back. She did not doubt that her master was furious with her and she would be in big trouble when she did. This was the curse of having strong force powers, she would get ideas and she couldn't help but run with them.

She took slow steps down another street, she could hear the steps of the storm troopers patrolling the area. The ground was stone which made it a bit easy for her to walk on quietly, she just had to be slow. She slipped around the corner of the street and in between two buildings. She could see a couple storm troopers that were turned around. She knew that their helmets gave them some ability to perceive movement in the dark, she would have to be careful if they happened to turn around. Remaining still was her best bet in that situation. She pressed her body against the building and crept through the alleyway. She was at the edge of another street, and there were more storm troopers on this one. She backed up and crouched down in an attempt to make herself smaller. This was not good.

She needed to find a way to hide until morning, she did not want to do anything that would announce her presence on the planet. As she thought about her Jedi heritage she instinctually she felt her side for her lightsaber. She looked down as she was shocked that she did not have it. She then remembered when Sabine gave her Naboo robes to change into, she had deposited her lightsaber into her droid. She forgot to take it out. She put a hand on her head in frustration, how could she be so stupid. Her master was going to kill her for sure. She needed to focus on getting out of here, and getting back to him before he found out.

She felt along the wall and turned when she felt metal. There was a grating here a drain of some sort, if she could get the grate off she could slide inside. She felt around the edges, they were wedged in pretty good. She would not be able to get it off without making some noise. The best option was to wait until the troopers had moved on their patrols. There was a warning in the force, she didn't have time to react.

"You there!" the voice of a storm trooper. She froze and closed her eyes as if willing herself to be invisible and accepting that it might already be too late to run.

"Look man, I'm sorry," another voice, not a storm trooper. They were not stopping and shouting because they found her, they found someone else. She crept to the edge of the alley, as close as she dared to get to peak out. She did not expect to see this guy again, but it seemed Jay Carras was not following his own advice.

"Are you aware that you are breaking martial law?" another storm trooper said, his blaster stuck into the figures back.

"I was just on my way home," Jay responded, he was keeping a good head like he had dealt with this before. She wasn't sure what to do now, there were only four storm troopers, a good force push into the one behind Jay would give her a chance to take the other three down. Then she could save him from whatever the storm troopers did to people caught out after curfew. Why did she care about saving this guy? It was obvious he was following her. She possessed too much Jedi compassion to just let them take him. One storm trooper was reaching for his radio, it was now or never. She had a split second to make her decision. She gathered the force around her focus filling her and the storm trooper behind Jay went flying. She smirked, this was always fun.

"What the..." The next storm trooper said as she jumped out and pushed him into his buddy. She flipped around the other one and landed on the other side of him with strength. She pushed him in to the pileup of storm troopers and focused the force knocking them out. She breathed out and turned to Jay now with a huge smile on her face from how fast she had done that. No lightsaber necessary against non force users.

"Why were you following me?" she asked, she had meant to sound intimidating but it came out in a soft tone. Jay backed up a step, he wasn't expecting her to jump out the way she did. She was perfect. No wonder Taris was so interested in this girl.

"You're a Jedi," he stated what he saw. So he knew his stuff about force users.

"Great you have eyes, now answer me!" She got that statement out with more spirit. She was not expecting to deal with so much this evening, she just wanted to get back to her ship. Maybe he could help, he was a native here and he might know the way better than she did.

"I just thought you might need help," he responded, "but it seems you had it under control."

"Of course I had it under control!" she exclaimed, they heard the sounds of storm troopers in the distance. They did not have time to stand around and argue about this.

"We've got to get off the streets." He grabbed her arm pulling her and running toward another alleyway. She was shocked but she went with him, not like she had much choice with his strong grip around her arm. They turned down another street and instinct told her they were going the wrong way.

"Wait!" she said pulling from his grasp and stopping, "I need to get back to my ship!"

"The port is too far!" he responded.

"That doesn't matter, I'll find a way!"

"You're going to get caught if you go back that way."

"I know what I am doing," she was exasperated by this whole thing. She just needed to get back. If she didn't before morning her master would be worried about her.

"Sure you can beat four of them," he said now, "but what if a whole garrison comes at you!"

"I have friends, I need to go back!" He saw the desperation on her face, whoever was back there was important. He might have found a bigger prize on this planet than he knew. He knew her reason for being there, he would have to appeal to it. He needed to get in deep with these rebels.

She had already turned back down the street. She was moving carefully, but he knew that her luck was going to run out if she kept going. She was stubborn and determined but she didn't have a clue what she had gotten herself into here. The people she was looking for were no longer in the city, she would never find them here.

"You're looking for the rebels, aren't you?" he asked now and her eyes widened at his intuition. Who was this guy? He could sense her confusion he knew that everything was falling right into place.

"So what if I am," she responded, she wondered who he was and why he seemed to know so much.

"I can take you to them." She looked back for a second, she didn't know where she was, but if she could find the rebels she could come back for Anakin and Sabine.

"But..." she didn't know this guy, how could she trust him?

"We have to go now!" He impressed their need to run upon her, she had to listen. What if he really did know what he said he knew. She nodded now, as he rushed forward and she followed. Her legs were getting tired from the day of walking and running around. Jay knew his way through the streets so well which was a good sign that he really did know where the rebels were. She moved with him as he led her to the back wall of the city. They were going outside of it and at this moment she realized why they couldn't find any trace of the rebellion. They had fled Theed.

She followed her new friend as he moved to a large drain, he slipped through it easily and she followed him. She was forced to duck and crouch now as they moved through the tunnel, she heard the sound of water as they reached the edge. She followed him onto a small platform looking out into the night, she could see a waterfall from here and the moonlight was shining off the water going toward the river. It was a beautiful sight if not for the heights. It was a far drop from here, he pulled out a cable launcher. They were going to climb down a rope. She groaned, she hated heights. She also considered herself too tired to climb down a rope. Her legs were aching and she was exhausted from the day. She should have listened to Sabine and slept the whole journey over.

"This is a bad idea," she mumbled now. Her master wasn't going to be able to follow here. She couldn't believe she had gotten herself into all this. She just hoped wherever they were going she would be able to find her way back to her master after this. Jay seemed confident enough as he prepared to go down the rope, of course he wasn't adjusting to new time zone, nor had he spent the whole day running around the city.

"Have you ever done this before?" he asked. She looked down from the ledge and got a bit dizzy, she hated climbing but she could try something else. She needed to be strong.

"Are we just trying to get to the bottom?" she asked.

"Yes," he responded, "we're going to head from here toward the swamps." She looked at the ground, the force flowing around her. It was in everything, from the blades of grass to the air around her. She hated climbing but she didn't mind trusting the force.

"I'll wait for you down there," she spoke as she gathered the force and dived.

"Ri-En!" he shouted as she cascaded toward the ground. Her eyes were open as the wind whipped tears from her eyes. She felt peaceful as she reached out to the force with every fiber around her. Her connection to the force was strong, and she couldn't imagine what life would be without it. She was getting closer, she could see the texture of the ground, a few rocks on one side. She wouldn't mess up here, she knew what she felt.

She flipped in the air turning her feet downwards toward the ground, her hands reaching out with the force and pushing at the ground to slow her descent. She landed softly on her hands and feet. She still felt like she was flying through the air, the thought of it made her feel safe. She stood up and turned to see Jay still coming down the rope, he was still pretty high up but he was moving fast. He had probably stopped in shock when she just jumped. She sat down for a moment, letting her body rest from the stress of the day. She wondered how she was going to get back to Theed and to Anakin now. She the realized she had forgotten her comlink earlier as well so she had no way of contacting them again.

She put her hands on the ground, listening with the force. There were so many life forms around them, but the state of sleep was prevalent. That was something she longed for but she couldn't stop now, not with the idea of reaching their objective so close. She was enjoying being on her own at this point. Her whole life people had been watching over her, she felt strong enough to handle the world as it was but it seemed no one else saw it that way. Maybe she was as crazy as they thought she was. She wondered if her dad was around if he would be the same as the others or if he would want to keep a watch over her as well.

How could she grow as a Jedi if they didn't trust her? She felt the force leading her but it often contradicted what she was told to do. Maybe they were right, maybe she did get herself into more trouble than it was worth when she ran off. Her last mission she got captured by Taris, and though she did succeed at finding Anakin her own actions almost cost them all. Would running off now cost her or had that feeling in the force led her here? She did not know because she could not feel it anymore, it had gone from her almost the moment she met Jay. Why had he followed her? Had he known by looking at her that she wasn't from Naboo? If he was one of the rebels than maybe he was watching for her, waiting for her to arrive.

Jay soon finished climbing down his cable. He was staring at her intently, like she was insane for jumping. She stood up and brushed the grass of her pants. It was getting quite cold out here as the night pressed on. She wondered what time it was.

"That was insane," he said to her. "Are you crazy."

"Well I am pretty sure my friends think I am," she said now. "They're probably worried sick about me now." She shivered from a cold wind that blew through the valley they were in. She could see lights in the distance from one of the ports on the side of the city.

"We should keep moving," he said leading the way forward. "I am sorry I just pulled you into this, it wasn't my intention when I followed you but I had a feeling you were the one the rebels were waiting for."

"Are you one of the rebels?" She asked him now. It was curious that he would pick her out of a crowd.

"I'm new," he replied, "when things got crazy out here I helped get the rebels out of the city. I know they are good people who deserved a chance to survive." That was a simple enough answer but it was curious that he wasn't a rebel before the empire restrictions. She would have to keep tabs on him, something was not right.

"Thank you for helping me," she responded. She glanced over at him, he looked back at her and smiled. It was very curious to find a friend here. They walked on through the forests when Ri-En heard a sound in the distance. She stopped and turned reaching out in the force. Jay stopped to, he began to hear what she was hearing.

"Patrols," he stated looking around for cover.

"Do they come this way often?" she asked him.

"No," he responded, "but we have to run." She nodded, she understood. He took off and she followed him, they were doing too much of this tonight. She had to watch her step with all the sticks and rocks on the ground but she also needed eyes on Jay who was moving quickly through the brush. A tree scratched her arm, she felt pain shoot through it. There was no time to focus on it. He was moving faster than her now because he knew the way, she didn't think it was necessary to keep going but she would follow him as long as he was going. She felt her feet slipping before it hit her and she found herself flying forward on the ground.

Her hands flew out in front of her, as she reached out in the force to slow her fall. She was amazed by how much mud was on the ground beneath her as she realized her ankle was in pain. Jay ran back to her reaching a hand out to her. She grabbed it using his leverage to stand but her ankle was still in pain. She couldn't think about it she continued to follow him but her foot twisted under her. She cried out in pain, this was what she got for disobeying orders.

"What's wrong?" Jay said turning back and quickly going to the ground beside her. Tears filled her eyes.

"I am fine," she responded, standing up and gritting her way through the pain. She could still move, but not as fast. He looked up, they were pretty far in the forest now and the storm troopers probably wouldn't follow him this far.

"We need to keep moving but we can slow down now," he he said. She was getting colder now that she was covered in water and mud. He saw her shivering and pulled off his cloak and put it around her. Any other day she would have refused the action but the circumstances of the day were starting to weigh on her. How did she get herself into this? She should have just stayed with Sabine, whatever was on that datapad was probably important.

"How much farther?" she asked him.

"It's about 8 more miles in to the river," he replied, "theres a boat hidden we then will take down the river for a few miles. After that we are going to have to walk 3 miles in." The distance was staggering, but there was no turning back now.

"I don't know how much farther I will make it," she responded, "but let's keep going." He appreciated her honesty in this situation, the length of the walk would give him time to get to know her. His plan was falling into place quite well.

* * *

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 **I wasn't expecting to have this done tonight. I am sorry if there are typos. Here it is!**

 **-AWinterChill**


	14. Naboo Resistance: Sabotage

**Chapter 14 - Sabotage**

 **Naboo Resistance Part 4**

* * *

 _There were so many tall buildings around her as she flew a speeder as fast as she could. Something was wrong, something was happening. She had never seen a plant with such high city scrapers, it was incredible before her. She reached a hand out into the dream world and the scene changed. She was facing a building, it had five towers reaching up out of it, it was on fire and the screams of death were echoing forth from it. She was shocked by how she could feel the lives of so many. Ri-En stepped back but found herself falling._

 _She was on the ground looking up at something, or someone. A man in a black hood stood in front of the troops marching into a building. His lightsaber was in his hand, but it was too dark for her to see who it was. A coldness and pain echoed forth from the figure in front of her. The image shifted, she was in a hallway with large columns and she looked out to see her dad and a small green alien nearing next to the bodies of the fallen. She began to realize what she was seeing was the end of the Jedi temple, her fathers grief echoing in the force around her. Once again the images changed and she saw her father once again standing on a landing platform, a strength in him and a young boy standing next to him. She wished she was in reality so she could call to him but she could feel the dream around her. She struggled to control the images but they shifted again and a darkness filled the air around her. She looked at the figures she saw now._

 _Taris stood, her lightsaber through a woman's abdomen but tears were streaming from her eyes. The woman had brown curly hair and Taris looked at her with sorrow as if she had loved her, yet how could that be when it was apparent she had killed her. What shocked Ri-En was how Taris looked, her face filled with sorrow and she looked small, like a child, not like the hardened warrior that Ri-En had faced. The woman in front of Taris fell to the ground as she removed her lightsaber from the woman and body in front of her transformed before Ri-E and and now she saw only her mother, Siri. Taris had stabbed her mother, a fatal wound. Ri-En cried out, screaming for the mother who had left her, for the mother she loved so dearly. Siri looked at her, tears in her eyes at seeing that this was the memory she would leave her daughter with._

 _"Don't give in to hate," the voice of her mother spoke. As Ri-En reached for her hand and it disappeared in front of her. The whole image disappeared and Ri-En found herself falling into the blackness around her emotions._

 _"MOM!" Ri-En screamed a wind whipping around her._

 _"You can't stop what's coming," a deeper voice echoed around her, "no one can."_

* * *

Her eyes opened and she shuddered at the cool of the morning around her. She was disoriented and a bit in shock wondering where she was now and how she got here. She sat up fast looking around the forest and remembering the events of the day before. She looked to her left, where the boy who had brought her here was still sleeping on the other side of the dying fire he had started. They were quite far in the forest and he felt it was safe enough to rest for the rest of the night. She got up slowly and took soft steps toward the river they were camped next to.

The dream was still echoing in her mind and she wondered if she would be able to put it aside to face the day around her. Nightmares were common for her, that didn't make them any less frightening. She knew her new master had already picked up that there was something that bothered her but she didn't want anyone to know the images she saw when she slept. She had been able to hide them from Ahsoka for the past two years, she would often wake up pensive and calm. It had been dreams that had led her straight to Anakin, she didn't dare tell anyone the truth. She did not want to believe that all her dreams were true because if they were everyone she knew was going to die.

Her mother died in a majority of them, leading her to wonder now if her mother was still alive. She felt a bitterness growing in her each day, a small resentment for her mother because she didn't have to leave. She hated that part of herself, she rejected it but she could not out run it forever. She wondered now why she even worried about loosing her parents, because from what she saw she had lost them long ago. What she wanted was never returning. With each day they missed her growing and changing. Why should she care if they came back or not?

 _Don't give in to hate_ , those words her mother had spoken were a reminder. She could not allow herself to resent them for that resentment could turn into hate. These small emotions could lead to the dark side. She breathed in the force around her, letting a peace wash through her and forgetting her troubles. There was so much life in this wilderness she found herself in and the living force in it was so very strong.

She looked down at her robe, they were caked with dried muds, she had kept them on for warmth but as the day came the cold night would leave. She already felt like she didn't need them. She slowly removed the soiled garments, she wore a light weight blue tunic, a thin dark brown belt and dark leggings beneath them. That was all she really needed out here, and she was glad she had the foresight to keep something functional on beneath the clothing she had needed to blend into the population of Theed. She walked down to the stream now, still being quiet and taking soft steps.

She reached a river bank where the water was still and there were dry rocks to sit on. She took a seat, removed her boots and rolled up her leggings. Her hair had caked mud in it and she thought it was time to remove it. She undid it's braided style letting it fall loose around her and she stepped into the water. She cupped her hands into the water bringing it up to her head and spreading it into her hair. She repeated the action, focusing on removing the clumps of dirt, she also rinsed her face and took a drink, glad to be refreshed by the water. When she was done she climbed onto the rocks, letting her feet hang over into the running water.

It was so peaceful here, she loved the life of this planet and the serenity it brought to her despite her inner struggles. She wished she could stay here forever but she knew herself to well, she craved adventure and that wasn't going to change any time soon. She ran her fingers through her damp auburn hair, it's length was nearly to the middle of her back. Her mother had kept her hair short when she was younger but she found a longer length allowed her to style it better for fights. Now she braided it simply behind her head for the rest of the journey they would be traveling. There was still a mile to the boat and a few more miles in from there, at least they wouldn't be caught out in the cold again. She closed her eyes letting opening herself up to the force and letting it wash through her. She could hear that Jay had woken up and he was walking toward where she was now. She opened her eyes and turned as he came out of the trees toward the river.

He walked toward where she sat and sat next to her on the rocks. She thought of their conversations yesterday, she hadn't learned much about him except that his parents had been killed by the empire. He didn't have any love for what they had done to Naboo and had apparently worked hard to get an in with the rebels. She had the feeling he was hiding something but she would rather see how this played out than confront him directly. He had been kind enough to her and she hoped that somehow she could help him and the rebels get off this planet soon. She had no idea what she was going to do when they got to the rebel camp, it might be best to start considering her options. At this moment she felt her stomach churn, she was very hungry and hadn't eaten much but protein bars at the end of the previous day.

Jay knew that they might get into this situation, out here without food. At least there was plenty of water, he took note that Ri-En had shed the thicker robes she had been wearing through their journey so far. She was now in simpler clothing that somehow made her seem more Jedi despite not being much like the Jedi robes he had seen others wear. She was nothing like he expected her to be. He had heard her described as a child who could not fight and who was distracted and too young for the missions the rebels sent her on. What he saw was a girl who was so tuned to the force around her, it amazed him that no one had taken note of it. He was glad he had learned to shield his signature in the force, if he had not she would have picked up quite a bit from him.

"We need to find some food if we are to continue," Ri-En said to him.

"There isn't really much around beyond seaweed and berries," he responded, "when we get to the rebels they will have more provisions for us." She knew that would probably be the case. She didn't want to start heading down the road yet but she knew that it was imperative that they keep going. She used the force to call her boots off the ground and quickly slipped them back on her feet.

"Well then," she said, "let's get going." They walked along for awhile, stopping off at berry bushes and eating what they could find. She had never tasted fruit as delicious as what she ate here. She loved the stillness that the early morning brought upon the land it was truly wondrous.

"Almost to the boat," he said to her. She smiled, she would be glad when this trip was behind them.

"Thank you so much," she replied and he looked at her confused so she continued. "You didn't have to bring me out here, but you did."

"We're not there yet," he replied. She stopped and he was confused by her. He had never had much interaction with people off of Mustafar, he did not understand this girl at all. She did not need to show him any gratitude.

"You have to understand that what you did might have cost you," she said, "helping the rebels at all comes with a cost. These people are risking their lives, their whole existence for something greater than themselves. By helping them, by helping me, you put your life at the same risk." He had heard the rebels were impassioned about their cause to bring down the empire, but he never understood how they saw what they were doing before. Ri-En really believed she was doing good. He could hardly believe what he was seeing, perhaps the people on the other side were just misguided.

"You are welcome then," he replied thinking of what he should say next. "I've seen my fair share of hardships, standing up for good people is easy when you know it is the right thing to do." It flowed easily, he had been well trained in how to handle deception but it was still strange to be deceiving her. What was it about her that was so different, was it simply that she was so pure? She was a Jedi padawan, an enemy by default. If she had been picked up by the empire she might have been one of the ones sent to Mustafar to train with him and the rest. How had she been pulled into this?

He was silent, waiting for a good question to formulate in his brain. He had to get information from her but she wasn't the kind of person to talk that much. That actually made this whole thing a little better as he would hardly know what to say.

"Do you have any family in the rebellion?" she asked, she was wondering about him and what events really got him involved. He was a quiet sort of individual and she judged him to be about seventeen years old.

"I never knew my family," he replied. She understood that this was the story of many of those that she knew. The empire had caused widespread lost, and the amount of people in the rebellion with no family was staggering. She did not have to imagine what life was like without family, but she had known her parents for a time. She knew what their faces looked like and still remembered some of the things they said to her. Those memories were tainted by the fear that she would never get them back but even then they gave her some strength.

"I'm sorry," she responded.

"Don't be," he replied, "you can't miss what you never had." She missed what she did have, perhaps what he said was true, more true that even he realized. "What about you? How did you end up in the rebellion?" She felt so faraway from home now, on this planet, not that she ever had much of a home.

"I was born to it," she hadn't expected herself to answer, at least not honestly. "My parents were Jedi on the run. I was born knowing that I was..." She didn't know how to explain the next part. Because she was born force sensitive she was different, seen as inferior by those who did not remember and seen as dangerous by those who did. Sometimes she felt like her existence was confined to a box that she couldn't escaped. Her whole life she had been hunted by the dark force users, her whole life she had never felt truly safe. Even in the wilderness surrounded by the living force she felt the dark side out there just waiting to come and claim her life.

"You're different," he filled in the blank for her. "Because you are a Jedi, you're powerful, and the empire fears that." It wasn't that simple, he understood more than she knew.

"The empire is constantly hunting us," she expressed the danger now, "I never had a chance to be normal, because of my parents." That was the information that the inquisitors could not find on Ri-En, was he close to it now? Who were her parents? It seemed the answer was right in front of him, with the Jedi they had locked away on Courscant. "I've just always belonged with the rebels." Just as he had always belonged on Mustafar. He also had never had a choice. They were not as different as he would have thought.

"In this empire, normal people are thrown into the crossfire, not just Jedi. The way I see it, it's better to be a Jedi than being born powerless to protect yourself from the dangers around you."

"I'm not sure I agree."

"Why not?" He stopped walking, she turned to face him. What about him was so different than those she had met in the rebellion?

"Because the powerless don't have a target on their back. The powerless have a choice." She had never engaged in a discussion like this in her life, she found herself wondering how the other Jedi felt about it.

"Almost everywhere I go," she felt the force around her as she spoke, "Taris or the inquisitors are there. Watching, waiting for a chance to destroy me and everyone like me. Would you wish to live like that? Would anyone?" He was stunned by her words not only because of how deep they sunk into him but because of how true they were. She did not understand that in front of her now was an agent of the Sith, someone sent to watch and to wait.

"I think you're wrong, every action we take comes from a choice," he spoke now, "we all have a choice." She looked straight into his eyes as if searching for something within them. She couldn't deny his words, but she had never seen another path for her. Being a Jedi was a part of her that was always going to be there.

"You've never felt as though your path was chosen for you?"

"To a certain extent," he responded now, "others can manipulate the path that you are on, but in the end you can decide what to do. Will you go along with where they placed you, or will you forge your own life?" His words made her wonder, did she want another choice? The force around her so strong seemed to lead her where she belonged, was that enough?

"How do you feel about destiny?" she asked him now, "are great people destined for the lives that they lead, or does something else control the world around us?"

"You tell me Jedi," he replied, "you're the one connected to everything around you." She wondered how he could speak so assured of things he couldn't possibly understand. She couldn't learn all there was to know in a day, she had to know who he really was.

"I think the force leads us to our destinies. Just a few weeks ago it led me to a new chapter in my story." She had to hold to what she really believed, without it she wouldn't know who she was. "It binds us, surrounds us, connects us and without it this galaxy would be a much dangerous place. Maybe we have some choices but without the force we have nothing and if we follow where it leads we may find our own destinies can surprise us."

"What about those of us who can't feel the force?" He asked.

"That doesn't mean it can not lead you. Just because you can't feel it or see it, doesn't mean it's not guiding you." She believed what she said with all her heart.

"What of the people on the dark side, is the force guiding them?" That was a strange question for him to ask her but one she believed she could answer.

"I've always see the dark side users as people who seek to manipulate the force and it's will for their own power." It was a concept she had not spent enough time thinking about but she remembered what Anakin had told her when he first met her. "We all have potential in us, equally for light or dark, for good or evil. The force guides us and what choices we make determines the destinies we take on." He was looking at her now like her words were a lifeline. He had never heard anyone speak of these matters of the force like she did.

"If I chose the path of the dark side it will dominate my destiny," she continued as she saw his confusion, "but if I lean toward the light my destiny will be the light. Do you understand?" He was silent, as he weighed the words that she spoke against the things that he had always believed. Were his beliefs his own anyways? What did he choose to believe in light of hearing what the Jedi felt?

"You're now what I would have expected Ri-En," he said to her now, his words carrying so many meanings.

"You don't know the half of it," she replied continuing to walk forward. How they had gotten into such a deep subject was strange to her. This boy felt things deeply and obviously had heard the philosophies surrounding the force before. She wondered how much more there was to him than she could see.

* * *

Anakin got up and sunrise, he wasn't one to wait around and procrastinate on what needed to get done. He was once again going to be chasing after Ri-En, his padawan really had a knack for getting herself into trouble. He didn't know how he was going to respond to that, Ahsoka had followed him more easily than Ri-En did. Too long she had been allowed to follow her intuitions in the force without answering to anyone. His old padawan had told him that she was often gone on rebel missions and Ri-En was left to her own devices. He would have to speak to her about sharing what she felt around her, instead of running headlong into danger.

He was ready to take off, he had briefly spoke to Sabine about it and gotten to the front of the ship when he discovered the ship was not working. He tried rebooting the main system and after finding that it failed again he slammed his fists on the controls in front of him.

"Why aren't we flying yet," Sabine asked as she entered the cockpit. Anakin's face was frustrated but he worked to keep it under control.

"This piece of junk ship isn't working," he proclaimed standing up.

"Well it better start working or we won't be able to get the rebels off planet," Sabine responded. Anakin grabbed a tool kit from beside the door.

"I'm on it!" he exclaimed walking out with the tools. Sabine didn't really know if he knew how to fix the ship, she didn't know much but she could help. She followed him and R6 fell in line with the two rebels.

Fixing things always calmed Anakin down, and as he assessed the engines he ignored Sabine's comments about what was going on. She soon realized he was really in the zone about this and left him alone. He checked over everything a few times, and found the cause of what was going on. Whoever had done this had done it in a hurry, they had stolen some essential parts and without them the ship wouldn't run but they hadn't made it impossible to repair. The person who had done this wasn't trying to stop them completely, he was only trying to slow them down. He worked on re-running a couple of wires, if he could get it working without a trip to a shop. That would probably throw whoever had done this off their plans.

What made him uneasy was the idea that someone had done this. They had hoped to arrive on this planet completely unknown, but someone was on to them. Wherever Ri-En was she was in more danger now. R6 was beeping and spinning with worry. Who had programmed this droid? It seemed to live in a perpetual state of worry.

"Did you figure it out?" Sabine asked entering the engine rooms.

"Yes," he said plugging in another wire. "The ship was sabotaged."

"Who could have done that?" she was shocked by the turn of events. She had been on intelligence for this mission, their plan was solid. They should have slipped in and out easily but so far they had been stuck in some sort of web.

"Someone is on to us." He knew this was obvious but she seemed to want to talk it over.

"But we were thorough with our identities and ship codes," Sabine replied. "Do you think that this has something to do with where Ri-En is?" Anakin shook his head, he was trying to keep the worry out of his mind.

"I think that we have to get out of here now." Anakin said flipping a switch on the engines, the whole thing started. Whoever did this didn't realize who they were messing with. He rushed to the cockpit, leaving Sabine staring at the engines. She was surprised that Anakin had fixed the ship so fast. She knew he was a general during the clone wars, one of the greatest ones. At the imperial academy she had learned about the tactics of many, including Ri-En's father, but Anakins' tactics had been more of a question mark to the teachers than anything. He was known as someone who could make up plans on the spot, and who was an amazing pilot.

She hadn't known what to expect when she had agreed to this mission, and now she was looking forward to learning what it really was that made Anakin such a great general. Maybe she could pick up some new skills on the way.

* * *

 **Sorry it took so long to update, I was kinda spinning wheels in this chapter, I needed to get to the next part so I decided to post this. The action revs up more in the next chapter. Sorry the short chapters persist.**

 **Please leave a review and let me know what you think!**

 **-AWinterChill**


	15. Naboo Resistance: Parallels

**Chapter 15 - Parallels**

 **Naboo Resistance Part 5**

* * *

He worked on keeping himself calm as he flew the ship into the clearing indicated on the map. He could feel in the force that the rebels they were looking for were below, their life in the force was evident. He was still amazed that after 15 years on a barren rock he felt more in tuned to the living force than he had ever been before. He knew that if he achieved balance as the Father had told him to on Mortis, he could find the power to stop Sidious. He hated that his whole life as a Jedi was centered around a prophecy of who he would destroy.

He swept the ship over the trees, circling carefully. He knew that he remembered the location below, but out of all his visits to this planet he couldn't place it. He didn't want to remember anything about this planet, but it was unavoidable. He moved the ship in and touched it down slowly. He pulled back in the controls, leaning back in the seat as he remembered the area he was in now. They were close to the sacred place of the gungans. This was where he had been when he was just nine years old, when Padme had revealed that she was not a simple handmaiden, but the queen of Naboo. He breathed in the force around him, he had to hold off the sorrow. He couldn't have that at this point.

He stood up from the ship and turned to walk out of it. His steps were heavy, he couldn't wait until this mission was done. He could see the light pouring in from the outside of the ship. Sunlight was warm, it reminded him of being under two suns as a child. He approached the ramp and paused, they had made it to the end of their mission here, soon he could return to space. He realized as he took a step out into the air of Naboo, that what should be pain was simply a memory.

Once he made it to the bottom of the ramp he found Sabine and R6 were already at the bottom. The sunlight was bright now and the day was warmer than the night by far. He squinted a bit in the light but came to stand by his companions. The rebels in question stood in a small crowd in front of them in the treeline, along with a mass of gungans who undoubtedly took them in. Anakin's mind flashed back to the gungans and the naboo uniting against the trade federation. He couldn't explain the emotions he felt now as a couple of the rebels stepped forward.

He could see the others in the background. He counted them and was relieved to see that they had all made it out here. This would make their trip back much easier than it had seemed like it was going to be earlier in the morning. This was what they came here for.

"You must be the help that the fleet sent," a man spoke now, Anakin's eyes fell to the brunette girl beside him. He felt like he had seen her before. It was possible with how many times he had come to this planet.

"Anakin?" the woman spoke her eyes bright as if she knew him. He didn't remember her. "I know you don't remember me, of course you don't." Her eyes glinted, "but I remember when you came to my house. I was just a child. How did you survive the Jedi purge?" His eyes lighted as he realized who this was.

"Ryoo?" he asked her. Padme's niece?

"It is Pooja actually," she replied, "Ryoo is my sister." He remembered now. He hadn't really spoken much to them but they adored their aunt. How had she gotten the news of her aunts passing?

"We are the ones who were sent to help you," Sabine said now, she was a bit amazed that Anakin actually knew one of the rebels but then again he was sent on this mission because he knew the planet. Pooja's mind turned to the questions she wanted to ask, how long it had been since her aunt had been returned to the planet as a body.

"This is my husband, Yacov," Pooja said turning to the man beside her, "this is Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi. When I was a child he was assigned to protect my aunt." Yacov held his hand out, his hair was dark like most people on Naboo. His eyes were kind and he seemed strong, just like all the rebels Anakin had met. They were up against an impossible power but they possessed a courage and bravery that Anakin knew was rare.

"It is nice to meet you," the man said, "the Jedi are so rare, we are honored the rebellion thought to send one to rescue this small operation." Anakin knew that they had only sent him on this mission as a test run, him and Ri-En would be in high demand for the more dangerous missions once the leadership thought they were ready.

"This Sabine, and R6," Anakin responded introducing his companions. "We ran into a little trouble in Theed. It is unknown if we were followed or tracked here but we need to leave soon." Pooja feared this might happen, calling for help was dangerous but they were all marked for death if they remained here any longer. Luckily for her the gungans had long been friends with her aunt, when she went to them with her aunts name they had agreed to help her and the people with her. She didn't want to endanger them any longer than she had to.

"The empire is on high alert," Yacov said, "it is possible that they anticipated your arrival."

"Our intelligence was good," Sabine replied, "there is something else at play here." That is what Anakin thought as well, he felt a shift in the force and remembered the person he needed to find.

"Whatever the case we need to leave here soon," Pooja responded.

"We arrived at this planet with one other," Anakin said quickly, he needed to find the girl. "My apprentice Ri-En ran off in Theed, I thought she had come out here." He glanced around at the people, "have you guys seen her? She is a young girl, fourteen. Auburn hair, blue eyes." Pooja turned and walked towards the group calling for one of the gungans. She spoke to the gungan in question in hushed tones then turned back to the group.

"She did not arrive here," Pooja said, "but our scouts reported a boy and a girl in the forest. The girl was very young and had auburn hair. They seem to be lost out there so we decided not to interfere. The storm troopers have sent patrols deeper into the forest each day, they are getting too close for comfort." Anakin's heart leapt, that had to be Ri-En.

"We can not leave without her," Sabine replied. Pooja called over the gungan again.

"Huy-Suss will assist you," she said.

"I'll stay and help the rebels load up on the ship," Sabine suggested and Anakin nodded. He would make do with the gungan, he could probably just follow his instincts as it was. He could feel in the force the direction that he was to go in.

"I'll go alone," Anakin responded his eyes fixated on the forest. Whatever Ri-En had gotten herself into he would rather deal with it without a gungan along for the ride.

"Are you certain?" Pooja asked him.

"Of course," Anakin said walking off toward the direction. His hand instinctively moved to Ri-En's lightsaber, she was going to get any number of lectures after this.

* * *

She heard the sounds of the training droids firing as she spun her crimson lightsaber brilliantly to ward off the attacks. She deflected bolts back to their origin points, stunning out the droids she was facing. Her pulse was racing from the intensity of the exercise and the length of time she had spent doing it. Life was easier here in her training room than it was anywhere else. Here she could let her anger seethe and surround her as she took out the enemies that remained. She closed her eyes as she took slow breaths, willing her body to calm from the exertion.

She had been fighting training droids for hours since the morning had begun. They lay deactivated around the room and she knew she could call them back online to start again if she wished. She had been out of the field for weeks and it was starting to grate on her emotions. Apart from one trip to Mustafar she hadn't left Courscant and the training she had been going through had be on a new level of intensity.

The emperor's anger was clear to her and he was taking it out on her with all his many new training methods. She had found sleep to come quite easily of late, because at the end of each days she was exhausted. But she could not sleep the day away, not on this planet, not when she actually had energy. Her muscles were tense as she realized the emperor was drawing near to the training room. He had told her to take the day off, but she hated being idle on this planet. Her emotions were a whirlwind around her and the force was radiating with the fury and pain she knew were permanently lodged within her heart. She walked to the edge of the training room and put her lightsaber down, taking up a glass of water that she had brought down with her.

The door to the room opened and her master entered. She held the contradictory fire and cold around her mind, blocking out all pieces of identity that she felt were weaknesses. When the emperor approached her he smiled at the cold in her eyes and he believed she was ready to go out and fight once again. She had been particular passionate about her training over the few weeks, and he was happy with the progress she was making.

"I told you to rest today," he spoke, he knew better than her what was coming next and he needed her strong enough to face it. His eyes turned to the droids that were scattered throughout the room, she was dedicated that was for sure.

"I'm not tired," she responded, a fire glinting in her eyes. He knew he had to be careful how he trained her, he didn't want any hint of defiance to start in her. What he did notice was that this wasn't defiance, she was manic about something. He had noticed that anytime her mind turned to that Jedi who had beat her a fresh fire ignited in her. Her anger was directed in the right place, _Skywalker_. Of course he had not told her the man's true name. He didn't want to speak it, lest it replace the name the emperor had bestowed upon him. He was Vader, he should have been the one here now. At least he had Taris as a consolation prize, she was just starting to burn in her potential, and she could be the key to bringing down the Jedi in question.

"When I tell you to rest you must rest," the emperor said quickly tossing her with the force, her shields and strength could not resist his sudden attack. She slammed into the wall falling on the ground with the force of it, her breath knocked out of her. He had to be on guard at all times with her, he had to keep her under his control. He could feel it in the force now, she was trying to hide thoughts of her mother. That was the issue here. He wasn't sure how to handle the thoughts that always came up on this planet. The girl had done her job in taking out the threat but she was still haunted by her own actions.

"Yes master," she said as she slowly got off the ground. She knew better than to disobey him, she shouldn't have been in the training room. Yet another voice in her head formed telling her she just shouldn't have been caught. It was a voice she pushed down and hid in the deepest recesses of her mind, her master would not tolerate it's existence so she didn't want him to see it.

Now she stood torn on whether to leave or whether to stay and wait for him to say something else. She was never one to be anything but bold, she took a step toward the door.

"Wait," her master said now, she turned to face him keeping her eyes down on the ground out of respect. "Come closer child." She knew that those words clearly spelled out how he still saw her. She was very young, and she was still just a child in many ways. A child without a family, but whose fault was that? She had been the one to cause it all, but her mother was weak. She deserved what happened to her. And She hadn't fought back. Taris shuddered at the memories, but at the same time she gathered the anger that they brought to her, it was pure strength.

"Let me look at you," Palpatine said to her now, her eyes looked into his for she knew what he meant. He wanted to see into her mind. How she wished she could read him as well as he could read her. She knew when her master was angry with her but she knew so little about the inner workings of his mind. He knew all her secrets and all her weaknesses. "I had thought you were ready."

Those words stung her, she felt ready to go back out and fight the Jedi again but she knew deep down he was right. She had failed because she wasn't ready. She couldn't handle one Jedi, she would have to be stronger next time.

"There is business I need you to attend on Onderon," the Emperor said now, he knew he didn't really have a choice but to send her but he wouldn't send her alone. "Since you have proven unable to handle the Jedi problem I am sending my associate to keep an eye on you." He saw a touch of fear sink into her being, she hated the creature which he spoke of but in many ways he was stronger than she was. That wouldn't be the case for too much longer, she was getting so close to really embracing the full power of the darkside.

"I will do what you ask, master," she said bowing and lowering her eyes to the ground again.

"There is still some training I need you to do before you leave," he continued, "meet me here tomorrow morning at dawn but in the meantime rest." She nodded, she hoped she could follow his instructions. Whatever mission he was sending her on, she had a feeling the Jedi were involved.

* * *

Ri-En hated the heat that she felt as the sun quickly caused the water in the system to evaporate into the air. The humidity was making her skin crawl. She was used to the dry environment of space, it was just different here. Jay tramped through the brush with assurance but as time wore on Ri-En got the feeling that he was lost but she didn't want to say anything till she was sure. She was getting tired, her ankle which she had twisted a bit the day before was starting to hurt more. She used the force to support herself as she walked but she didn't know how much longer she could go. The food they had wasn't enough and her head was starting to spin.

"How much farther?" she asked him as she moved her arms in hope that maybe the humidity wasn't going to last the whole day. She stumbled again but this time he caught her arm steadying her, she held her breath as she found her footing.

"Almost there now," he responded letting go of her arm once she took another step forward. He was lost, plain and simple. He really wished he had gone over the trail more than twice when he first got here. It was difficult when the landscape of everything looked the same and he was forced to block out his force abilities lest she find out he had them. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she responded as they continued to walk. They had gone through many conversations by now, but none of them revealed to her much about his past.

"We can stop and rest again if you'd like," he suggested. She shot him a glare out of annoyance. If he could keep going so could she. She was just glad she had the force to assist her, it kept every cell in her body moving through the rough territory they were traveling over. She once again wished she had just stayed with her master.

"I'm doing fine," she replied, "I'm just hungry." He kept walking and she followed, she was moving slower than him now. She didn't know what to make of him. He seemed to have a lot of questions but in many ways he was closed off.

"Do you actually get to touch down on planets often?" he asked her. "Or do you guys just float around space until someone needs your help?"

"Of course we get to see planets. But as it happens, we are currently baseless in space. It is much easier to hide when you can change your position daily." She was getting more and more snappy with her answers, she knew it wasn't fair to have an attitude but she sensed something was off around them. She was tired and the force sense was starting to grate on her.

"What's it like?" She didn't know why he was asking so many questions about this. She stopped looking around, there was definitely something wrong he paused to. Surely the scouts hadn't come this far in?

"We have company!" she exclaimed as a storm trooper came into view.

"Halt!" the storm trooper yelled as a few of his companions came into view. They pointed their blasters at the two teens and Ri-En instinctually lifted her hands, immersing herself in the force.

"This is bad," Jay said lifting his hands, because Ri-En had. He knew that Ri-En was the only weapon needed in this situation. He felt her moving the force around her, and around him protectively. She was magnificent in her usage of the force, he would have to bring that up to Taris whenever he was pulled off this mission.

"Just trust me," Ri-En commented, he noted the irony of her statement. She focused on those in front of her and thrust her hands out releasing a huge force push with them. "Run!" he didn't have to hear her ask twice as he took off into the forest, Ri-En was right behind him. She had a strange feeling pass through her, she was beginning to wish she had grabbed her lightsaber the day before. It was so stupid of her to forget it. With that thought she realized it was the first time in a long time she actually wanted the weapon. That meant all the exercises and forms Anakin had been drilling into her had worked. Her ankle was starting to hurt more and she found herself stumbling to the ground.

"Ri-En!" Jay shouted her name as storm troopers appeared in front of them. They were coming from two sides, almost like they had known where to look. Ri-En reached a hand to her ankle, taking in fast deep breaths as she tried to block out the pain. The Force was her ally, she breathed it in, focusing it on her ankle. The pain was being slowly released but she knew at this point it wouldn't make much difference.

"Hands in the air!" A storm trooper proclaimed, "don't make any moves or we will shoot." She hated this. She put her hands in the air and Jay followed. She was still holding the force around her ankle, it soothed her and she felt it strengthening whatever had happened. Just a moment more. She smiled as the storm troopers walked closer and it happened all at once. A figure appeared, leaping in front of Ri-En a lightsaber plunging through one of the storm troopers.

Anakin held his hand out pushing another storm trooper into a tree and quickly moving to block fire with his lightsaber in one hand. His other hand pulling out Ri-En's lightsaber. She saw it and jumped out reaching for it as he tossed it toward her. She ignited it as she focused keeping her weight off the hurt ankle. She caught a blaster bolt on her lightsaber but she didn't have the finesse to send them back at their opponents as Anakin did.

Anakin pressed his attack forward moving into the fray of the storm troopers. He stabbed through another and moved quickly for yet another. There were only five more. Ri-En focused the force and moved her lightsaber. She was surprised when the blaster bolt actually moved back to another storm trooper. Jay rushed to a fallen storm trooper and picked up a blaster. He fired on the enemy taking out at least one, these blasters weren't very good.

Ri-En watched in amazement as Anakin moved in and took out the last opponents easily, his movements were sure and swift. She deactivated her lightsaber and clipped it to her belt. Anakin deactivated his own lightsaber and breathed slowly to calm himself. He could lash out at Ri-En immediately or he could objectively come up with something to say to her. Objectivity was never something he was good at. Ri-En could feel his upset and frustration with her in the force so she stood still waiting for him to speak. Jay felt awkward waiting for the two of them to say something, he didn't know how to handle the obvious tension in the air.

"What were you thinking?" Anakin said in the calmest tone he could muster at this point.

"I'm sorry master," she said in a quiet voice. She couldn't muster much but she had made a mistake and she knew it. He had to be careful about being too angry but he also needed to make it clear that her behavior was wrong.

"Do you realize the headache you caused?" he asked her. "Sabine and I had to waste time searching for you in Theed when we could have been flying out to the rebels. We could have been off this planet by now. Explain yourself, padawan." She winced, he never called her padawan unless it was a formal setting or he was upset which had only happened once on the ship. He usually called her Ri or a nickname he had come up with for her, Ri-Wan based on her fathers name.

"I just..." how could she explain the turn of events that had happened? She thought back to the feeling in the force she had experienced in Theed, she had never discovered it's source. She had left out here before she had been able to, it was best to tell the truth. "I felt a pull in the force and I..."

"You should have come to me before investigating it yourself," he realized now wasn't the best time to discuss it. They had tons of time for lectures later. "You can not just run off, you can't just succumb to your own whims. We found the rebels, we didn't need your heroics." She wasn't surprised at this point that he had found the rebels, because it was obviously the reason he had found her out here.

"I'm sorry," she knew that he didn't want her to try and defend herself.

"I agreed to be your master Ri," he said now, Jay's hand twitched at that new information. "This doesn't work out if you don't tell me things. You can't just take your team for granted on a mission. You can't follow your own path when others are involved." He couldn't understand why she didn't know this already but then again he barely knew the child. He had only begun training her, there was so much more ahead. "We will be talking about this more later."

"Okay." She didn't have much else to respond with. "We have to go back right." Anakin nodded taking a step forward and focusing now on the boy that Ri-En was traveling with.

"Who's your friend?" Anakin asked now, Jay looked at the older man. This must be the new Jedi that Taris was so worried about. He had a scar through his eye, a war torn look on his face. Jay had watched how he handled his lightsaber, like it was a piece of him. There was no doubt in his mind that this Jedi had fought in the clone wars.

"This is Jay. I met him in Theed and he told me he could take me to the rebels," Ri-En said as if beckoning him to come forward. "Jay, this is Anakin Skywalker, my master." That explained everything. If he got nothing else out of this mission, he got that. Anakin's eyes bore into him, he had to press down on his force shields to keep fear from coming up.

"Well at least you had good intentions," Anakin said to Jay his eyes still searching the boy in front of him. He didn't like the quiet in the boys mind. When he was younger he had found that he had a strong force ability to read people and to read their intentions. He couldn't read this boy, almost as if someone was shielding his mind. Anakin didn't want to force himself in, he didn't want to try and confront Ri-En's new friend right now but he would certainly keep an eye on him. Someone had sabotaged his ship and Ri-En had run off with this kid. So far he wasn't too laid back about their apparent success. Something more was at play here and he wasn't leaving Naboo till he discovered it.

* * *

Siri hated this planet. There was nothing good about Tatooine, why had Obi-Wan even bothered to come here? They had landed in a settlement and sold the tagged ship. Siri was glad to be rid of it. Her plan was to buy a new ship in another port. They had gotten a speeder upon making their sale and Luke had successfully led her to the homestead that Obi-Wan and Luke had lived in for a short time. She hadn't found much at the home, and she wondered why her instincts led her here. She sat outside the home now watching the twin sunset and remembering the times past, the things that she didn't often get to consider. How did the empire win?

Obi-Wan had described to her the scene of horror that he found in the temple. It had been a bloodbath, no one had survived. He had seen the bodies of children tossed to the side like they were nothing and he had said that he felt a dark presence in that place. Obi-Wan had carried so much hope after all he had seen, because he had seen evidence that Anakin had survived. How did that play into his decisions after he left his family behind? Tatooine was obviously a part of it. This was the planet where Anakin had been discovered, perhaps Luke was just related to him by someone on this planet. Siri had a feeling the resemblance was more than that, but she didn't understand how.

The answers she was looking for were close to her, she knew it. She felt a strange energy in the force around her, she was so close to something. She saw Luke on a ridge nearby practicing lifting rocks with the force. Something about that simple act reminded her of the older Jedi in the temple and the puzzles they would create for students to solve. Obi-Wan had been a Jedi master and an important figure on the council, no doubt he had learned a thing or two from them. She walked carefully up the ridge to the cliffs where Luke was practicing. She didn't want to disturb him, he was methodical in his dedication to his training. She had known padawans like him in the temple, she had trained a padawan with similar dedication but Luke was different. He was definitely effected by what happened to him as a child, but at the same time he had so much hope for the future.

She ignored where he was practicing and focused on the other side of the ridge line. The rays of the two suns were still bright up here and she felt strongly that she was in the right spot. She looked around the rock formations, searching for a feeling in the force. She knew what Obi-Wan would do if he needed to hide something. Her eyes rested on a group of rocks. She moved her hands toward the rocks using the force to lift them up and into a new location.

Sunlight glinted off a metal box and Siri smiled as she walked toward it. After all this time she would finally have answers about what Obi-Wan had done in the galaxy after he had left. She dropped to her knees and reached her hands to lift out the large box. It was warm from the heat of the planet but not impossible to touch. There was a lock on it and she placed her hand over it. She felt Obi-Wan's force signature around the box, this was what she was searching for. The lock was locked with a specific movement in the force, she knew exactly what it was. Her and Obi-Wan had come up with one on a mission when they were young, no doubt that was what he used here.

She opened the lock easily with the force. She was glad Obi-Wan had left it with something that she could open, he must have known if anything happened to him that she would come here to find what he had left behind. She had resisted coming for too long. This was what she should have done when she lost him to the empire. Now she held her breath as she opened the lid of the box.

A blue glow shot up into her eyes but it wasn't hard to look at, it was soft. It called to the force within her, calling the light. Tears filled her eyes as she stared down at nine Jedi holocrons. He must have recovered them from the temple or from imperial vaults, for they certainly would have been lost if someone hadn't taken them. From what she knew the emperor ordered all Jedi relics destroyed after the destruction of the temple. If that included holocrons he was foolish, she had no way of really thought reminded her of the Jedi she grew up with, the friends she had lost and the past she wished she could still have. The holocrons were hope for the future of the Jedi and she knew master Yoda would agree that this discovery was important. She knew one of them in here contained information from him. Information about what he had been doing since he left.

"You found it?" Luke questioned and she turned to see him standing a foot away from her.

"Did you know about this?" she asked him. Luke shook his head.

"Obi-Wan lived here before I came," he responded, "he told me once that he had hidden something here of great importance. He used to come up on this ridge, but he never showed me what he had hidden." Obi-Wan must have had a reason for not even showing this to Luke. She closed the box and replaced the lock.

"These are quite important," she said to him. She hoped one of them would give her more information on Luke. "They are Jedi holocrons. They contain teachings from masters, and messages for future generations." She stood up lifting the box up easily. "These will aid us in rebuilding the order and every aid brings us one step closer." Luke never understood how the Jedi hoped to restore the order with the empire hunting force sensitive children. How would the Jedi even get initiates? He guessed that question was not for him to answer. For the only answer he had was that they would defeat the empire before they really begun.

* * *

They walked into the clearing after what seemed like a very long walk back. Anakin didn't say much of anything and Ri-En was left wondering exactly what kind of trouble she was really in. Jay realized that it was best to be quiet at this point, the older Jedi was much more skilled than Ri-En and was obviously suspicious about something. He would have to play the next few hours with intelligence. He could get in with the rebels under deep cover or he could end his mission here with the information he had obtained.

Ri En saw the rebels rushing about loading different pieces of equipment into their ship, so it seemed Anakin and Sabine had really succeeded in locating them. That further invalidated Ri-En's belief that she could find the rebels on her own. She hadn't even made it here without intervention of her master. Ever since switching to training with Anakin she had felt like things weren't working. The force had led them together yet that wasn't enough so far. He wanted her to focus on lightsabers, something she was just not gifted in. He wanted her to tell him everything she was thinking and feeling yet he was closed off. This was their first mission together and she felt compelled by the force to do something, now her master was angry with her. She couldn't find a way to really be a good padawan to him. She had always done things a certain way and now he was asking her to change.

Upon entering the camp Jay broke off from the group to speak to one of the rebel friends he no doubt had. Ri-En was forced to continue following her master as she didn't want to do anything to earn more discipline from him. They walked toward the main area of the clearing where Sabine was supervising the work the rebels were putting into loading crates onto the ship.

"Sabine," Anakin said as he approached the mandalorian, "What's all this?" He had thought the rebels were coming aboard the ship with a few possessions, yet there were more and more crates being brought from the woods.

"The rebels down here have been gathering supplies for months," Sabine spoke updating him on what she discovered. "They know were tend to run out easily. They also knew that their time here might expire soon and decided to use the resources of the planet to help us. The only thing that they didn't get much of was water, we could aways use some but the empire controls access to much of the drinkable water on this planet."

"Isn't that why they began their occupation here?" Anakin asked.

"Yes," Sabine responded, "it's nice to have a planet with tons of water to exploit for their troops. Though the rebels think the empire cracked down on this planet early because it's leaders have been against the formation of the empire from the beginning. The water was just an added bonus." Anakin understood why that would be true. Naboo was once a planet that existed in peace and one that was structured on the democracy they loved. During the clone wars the lines got blurry but Naboo leadership always kept to who they were. They always pushed to end the fighting and to pursue peace. Now they were just exploited.

"So empire power is centralized on the water system," he said thinking about the whole situation. He noticed Ri-En looked tired, and hungry. He would have to make sure she got what she needed before he even started thinking about the plan that had started to form in his mind.

"That's exactly where it is," Sabine replied a gleam shining in her eyes. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Anakin knew he was.

"Maybe," he replied, "but let me consider it a bit more. We're already proven someone in the empire knows were here, we have to be careful how we move." He turned to Ri-En putting a hand on her shoulder. "Just keep the organization going." He gave that last comment to Sabine then led Ri-En into the ship. She felt like another lecture was coming on, but he didn't seem angry. She hit her foot on something then almost flew forward. Anakin grabbed her arm, holding her up. Her face contorted with the pain from her foot. She was going to have to stop doing that.

"Sit," Anakin said as they entered the main room of the ship and he pulled out some rations for her. She obeyed and took what he offered her, it reminded her of when they met on Abafar. He had given her food and water then when she was tired but he had not said much. He didn't seem to have many words to speak, she didn't doubt his mind was filled with many thoughts. He sat across from her.

"Do you understand what you did wrong?" he asked her leading the conversation he needed to have.

"Yes," she replied, she knew she was only saying what he wanted to her. He knew it as well.

"I don't think you do."

"Well I do."

"Then explain it to me." He was never very good at receiving lectures from Obi-Wan, so he knew a bit about how she felt now. He now knew from experience that giving out the correction was worse that receiving it. Hoping that your padawan understood the lesson was worse than trying to learn the lesson. Ri-En sat up more in the chair.

"I went off mission," she explained, "I disobeyed orders." What did he want her to say?

"Good, now why did you do it?"

"The force."

"Does not make you do anything."

"Well it led me to you," she said her voice getting louder than he had ever heard it.

"That doesn't mean you should run away every time you think it's telling you to." He didn't know the best way to convey what she needed to understand. "When you disobey direct orders you put yourself in danger, and you put others in danger by putting the mission in danger. There is a time to improvise and to change things up for the better, but it takes time and experience to learn how to do it. You lack experience Ri, you can't just run around and pretend you have it."

"I am not pretending I have anything." She was feeling a little more snappy than normal.

"Don't focus on specific phrases. Focus on what I am trying to tell you."

"You have to understand what I was feeling," she said feeling a bit bold after her adventure. "There was something in the force, something huge. It was screaming at me, I had to figure out what I was sensing."

"At risk of the mission."

"At risk of nothing since we found the rebels." He was a bit surprised at her sudden assertion.

"Okay, so we succeeded," he said sitting back, "this time. But think about last time, you need to understand that some mistakes you can't come back from." She caught it so fast in the force. He was speaking about himself, about the regret he carried and the things she knew she would never be able to see.

"And yet here we are," there were tears springing in the corner of her eyes now. "Here you are. Living proof that some risks are worth it." Anakin realized that what she said cut deep into the fabric of who he was now. He had taken many risks and so much of them failed. Now he sought a way to live without risks and to avoid the pain that he experienced because he took a risk too big. He could not out run the consequences of the things he did.

"And some risks could destroy you," he had to get this in her head. He needed to know that he wasn't going to loose her to a mistake. There was silence as Ri-En's mind wondered what had happened to send him to exile. What mistake had he made that had destroyed so many pieces of him. He was kinda like the stories that she had heard yet they described someone who took risks and who succeeded with reckless tactics. He was someone who the galaxy had hailed as a hero, someone filled with life and with energy. The destruction of the Jedi effected him deeply, but she knew it effected her mother to and it hadn't destroyed her spirit. It had destroyed his.

Yet there were things she wanted to talk about beyond this, she wanted to know what she had felt. She needed to know what it was that had pressed on her so strong back at Theed.

"Well," Ri-En began, "we can talk about what I felt now."

"Was it really that important?" he asked her. He stooped, the wheels in his head spinning again. "Wait was it a presence, like a person?"

"Maybe," she complied with his idea, "but it was a bit bigger than that. Like a warning, but also like destiny." He didn't quite know what to make of her description.

"But a person?" he had to get to the meat of the problem.

"Do you think an inquisitor is tracking us?" she asked him.

"If one is you should know better than to leave your lightsaber with your droid," Anakin took the opportunity to instill another lesson he knew she wasn't understanding like she should.

"I know my lightsaber is my life," she said repeating the platitudes that Ahsoka always tried to drill in her head. She knew where it came from in the training line, it had come from her father. Shadows of him where everywhere but she couldn't even completely remember his face. In her visions it was a blur, like in her memories.

"I don't think you actually know," Anakin responded as he lifted his hand and Ri-En's mouth dropped at the sight of her lightsaber in his hand. He had swiped it when they entered the ship, she hand't checked for it once. She hadn't realized for a moment it was gone. She reached her arm out fast and grabbed it out of his hand. He let out a slight laugh, it was unexpected.

"That's not fair," she said to him.

"Whoever's on our tail isn't going to play fair," Anakin pointed out.

"I've never seen them swipe a lightsaber," she quipped back but she still didn't smile. He saw more hints of what she had buries but now was not the time to try and get them out of her. They had just begun, there was so much unsaid but there was time.

"You never know what the enemy is going to do, you have to be prepared for anything." He was right of course and at that moment the mystery unlocked in his mind and he knew the enemy's plan. His eyes widened as he looked at Ri-En, and the plans he wanted to accomplish spun in his head. He had a perfect plan, it would teach Ri-En a lesson and it would be a rebel victory.

* * *

 **Hey everyone, this chapter is named after the parallels between Ri-En and Taris both struggling with their masters.**

 **As always review, I am excited I get to post. This chapter is longer and meatier. I did my best to keep writing even when I just wanted to post three scenes. This arch isn't all that exciting like the first one but there will be more exciting plots. The next arch is one that spontaneously spun out of my ideas for this one and I am really excited about it.**

 **So next chapter the action revs up! Please leave me a review, I've loved reading your comments! Thank you all for your follows and favorites!**

 **AWinterChill**


	16. Naboo Resistance: A Broken Calm

**Chapter 16 - A Broken Calm**

 **Naboo Resistance Part 6**

* * *

There were tremendous cheers as the crowd of senators applauded, he made sure to join in with them as the speaker was cut off with the racket. Bail sighed as the pompous senator continued his speech about the military operation that was led on his own planet. The rebel cell had been crushed without mercy, and none of the other cells had been able to aid them in time. Of course this puppet senator would celebrate the event that had happened.

There had been a vote on the military action needed in that sector, it was a show vote of course. The empire planned on crushing the group anyways, so he had voted for the maximum force because he needed to be invisible here. His warning to that cell had made it there too late, and though it saddened him he was forced to celebrate. Without Alderrans support the rebellion as a whole would be severely weakened, he didn't have the position to oppose anything here. At least not yet. He had plans, and those plans relied on the decisions that other systems were making each day. He sought out those who would oppose the empire, and he organized those leaders.

It was dangerous to be doing these things so close to the emperor, but years of practice kept him strong enough to handle it. He looked around at the thought of his chief enemy, briefly glancing toward the emperors overview box, where he would watch the proceedings if he did not want to be involved, of course he was not here today. The military were organizing a strike against another complex planet. Bail was interest in the person watching though, the young girl who had come from nowhere and was now the emperor's apprentice.

She was young and already her first few military campaigns were raging successes. Of course she would show up to this proceeding, she had led the start of the campaign before being pulled away for other matters. From what he heard she was but fifteen years old, but being that she was young and beautiful having her as the face of many military successes only gave the media on Courscant a ton of propaganda material.

Bail had long watched the young girl, feeding what little information he could gather about her to his allies. There was literally nothing about her history available anywhere, but her presence on Courscant was always a giveaway that something big was going down. She was often away on the imperials force sensitive training facility, wherever that was, and when she wasn't there she was destroying rebel bases. It had only begun a year ago and already she had downed three. She had a reputation of showing no mercy which was pretty much the Sith way.

There was a rumor spreading about a new Jedi on the scene who had defeated her, but wherever those rumors were heard they were crushed. Bail knew better than to repeat such tales but he did hope to get information on the emergence of a new Jedi soon. The people around him were clapping again so he had joined in, he tended to tune out these victory speeches. He glanced back up at the box and saw that the girl was gone. He needed to warn the rebels across the galaxy to watch their backs, something was about to happen.

His life since the formation of the empire had been difficult, leading a rebellion while spending all his time in the heart of the empire was dangerous but necessary. He'd never forget the events that took place 15 years ago and the pain that they brought him. He'd lost a dear friend and the galaxy had lost the order. He had at least saved Yoda and Obi-Wan, though neither of them were much involved with his activities. Obi-Wan had been for a short time before his disappearance.

What weighed on Bail for so many years was the unexplainable death of Padme Amidala. A report came out that she was killed by the Jedi, but he knew his friend and he knew the Jedi, they were strong allies. Whatever had happened led back to Padme's opposition against Palpatine and being that he was involved as well he wondered why she had been targeted. Nothing was really known about how she had died, he had tried to figure it out and it had only led to dangerous dead end and he knew he could not pursue it further without risking his own life.

No matter how many years at passed during sessions such as these his mind always wandered back to her and her unfailing belief in the republic. She had served selflessly for so long, and she had died for it. At least that was all he could make of the situation. He should have known she was in danger, the last time he saw her she was distracted and almost frantic about something. Yet she was brave, she didn't back down on trying to stop the empire from forming, and she had failed.

Soon the session ended and he found himself walking through the halls of the senate building in deep thought. He would have to find out something about the next military campaign if it was indeed against the rebels. He really had no leads. He knew that there was danger to the rebel cell on Naboo, but they should have been lifted off planet by now. Many other cells were too small to garner that much attention at this time. What planet had enough rebel resistance to warrant a huge operation? He had to go over the places he knew could be on the list when he got back to his apartment.

The halls were busy and as he walked his eyes almost missed the sight of Darth Taris walking in the opposite direction as him. It might be interesting to actually speak to the enemy that his Jedi friends were concerned about. He strode boldly toward her and greeted her.

"Hello, Lord Taris," he knew she preferred being called Lord as opposed to Lady because a story had spread around the center about the injury of a poor senator who dared to demean her by calling her Lady. It was a strange insistence but it didn't really matter much to him. Maybe she felt she had something to prove being one of the few women involved with the military.

"Senator Organa," she responded coldly as she was forced to stop by his approach. It didn't surprise him that she knew who he was, rumor was she knew who everyone here was.

"It's good to see you on the Imperial Center," he was careful to speak the proper term for the planet at this point, "we have heard very little of your campaigns lately and had begun to worry that you were injured." No expression crossed her face, her features were perfectly cold, and her eyes directed a sort of anger right toward him. She lacked the charisma of her master yet that could probably be trained in time.

"Your concern is noted. If you ever hear little of me be assured it is not because I am prone to injury," she responded a bit of sassiness showing in her voice. "Now if you'll excuse me senator, I have business to attend." With that she stomped off quite quickly for the small girl she was. He looked back after her once again wondering what her presence here meant. He would have to get to the bottom of this for the sake of his allies, and soon.

* * *

A strong hold, a quick strike. Her hands moving her weapon around with ease but her feet planted firmly on the ground. Maybe it wasn't moving with much ease after all. Ri-En had dreams about actually being able to move it well but she knew she was not close. Anakin had decided that her duty was to train until he and the others had come up with a plan. They had been arguing about something for an hour and she was starting to get sick of swiping around with her lightsaber off. She flipped it on swiping it around at the air in a form she didn't quite understand. She hadn't revealed her ankle injury to her master, it wasn't bad and she felt that it didn't stop her from walking. She had kept focusing on using the force to heal it but she couldn't quite get it.

Just thinking about it caused her to feel more pain from it so she stopped moving the form and turned off her lightsaber. She sat on the ground willing herself to meditate, to clear her mind of the many thoughts racing through it. She had no clue what plan her master wanted to make, they had finished their mission of finding the rebels and now all that remained was getting everyone back to base.

He had a gleam in his eye now, it was the first time he actually looked excited about doing something since she found him. She wondered if the Anakin of the stories was starting to bust out of his shell of self pity and hurt. He had certainly switched from scolding her to planning some kind of mission quite quickly. She looked over toward the group and saw Anakin animatedly speaking and moving his hands around as if to convince the others. She realized she wasn't really meditating like she had planned on and quickly closed her eyes trying to block everything out.

Meditation was always an interesting concept to her, she could easily slip into a place of peace but she didn't understand the point of doing it as often as Ahsoka had enjoyed doing it. She wanted the time to pass, she wanted this mission to end. She didn't even realize it until this moment, that no matter how beautiful this place was the feelings she had in the force were painful. She wanted to go back to space, to safety. She felt herself drifting as she cleared her mind of everything, she was one with the force now and free from everything in this place. She could feel the infinite life around her, and the struggle for existence that each and every life form fought for. The galaxy was in chaos, but a part of everything existed always in an overwhelming chaos. The dark side of the force raged seeking to snuff out the light and end all hopes of balance.

 _Don't give into hate_

Her peace was shattered as the image of her mother lying on the ground in death flashed through her mind. She found herself back on Naboo, her heart racing from the troubled feelings that raged through her at the images that seemed to follow her. Were these visions she got a warning or a prophecy of what would happen. She saw so many things that seemed so distant. Was it telling her that they would fail? She looked over to where Anakin was. Was her search for him in vain? She had brought him back, at least part of him.

She pulled her lightsaber off her belt looking at the weapon and taking in what she believed it was. The Jedi were peacekeepers yet they carried the weapons of warriors, this weapon was a responsibility and a life. She knew that meaning of the words her mother said to her in the dream, that no matter what happens she should never give into hate. The temptation of power never did anything to Ri-En, her abilities in the force were always powerful and she never felt like she needed anything more. The temptation of hatred and fear, those were the enemies she had to fight. Her fear that her parents were going to die and her hatred of the Sith. These were things to throw away. Compassion was the thing to embrace. Compassion for her enemies, the ones who would destroy her.

"Are you okay?" she heard a voice as Jay came and sat beside her.

"I was just meditating," Ri-En responded. "It's a way to focus on the force."

"Do you do that often?" he asked her.

"Yes."

"You looked troubled," he observed.

"There are a lot of troubling things happening in the galaxy," she replied. "The Sith being in power has never been a good thing."

"I don't much know about such matters, but people are starting to hope that things can change. Everyday the rebellion spreads across the galaxy and more and more people stand up for what is right." He spoke with assurance, reminding her of the little memories she had of her father.

"My father always had that hope," she responded, "he even named me after his hope. He said that it was the next generation that would carry the hope that we needed to get through."

"He sounds like he was a wise man."

"He still is," Ri-En replied, "wherever he is."

"I'm sorry," he said quickly, "I assumed that... I mean you talked about him like he was... You know." She smiled.

"I understand," she looked into the sky above them. "It's okay, I haven't seen him in over ten years, he left when I was very young. He had dreams of finding the remaining Jedi in hiding and helping rebuilding the Jedi order. It was a fools errand to most but his hopes weren't entirely misplaced."

"He was a Jedi?" She supposed that was a logical conclusion.

"One of the best from what I've heard," she said. "Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. A stranger to me after all this time, but still my father." She was tired of running through her emotions about the situation. "I have no idea where he is, it's been so long some think it is foolish for me to believe that he is still alive." She looked over at Anakin, "but those same people thought he was dead," she motioned to where her master stood, "and he stands as proof that they were wrong. Still, it hurts to not have him or my mother around."

"I'm sorry," he repeated the earlier apology and she smiled at it. "I mean I kinda understand you know, my parents have been out of the picture for quite awhile and I know they aren't coming back. At least you have hope that they still can." She reached and put her hand on his shoulder, it was good to just have a friend here in the midst of her confusion. She looked up to see Anakin motioning for her to come over, it was time to find out what it is he was planning.

* * *

She leaned on the glass that lined the wall of the room she stood in. Nothing could make this planet better, not training, not senate sessions, nothing. She stared out into the busy traffic of the bustling city, she could smell the smog that ran through the air on this planet, she could feel the uneasiness of the inhabitants here and Taris was ready for it to end, she was ready to go on a mission and leave this all behind. She looked up into the sky, the stars were faint on Courscant, she never understood why her master had desired to set up the imperial center here but it was out of her control. It's not like Mustafar was a bright corner of the universe either, but she was thankful she was a part of the empire and not the rebellion that was doomed to fail.

She wondered now how Jay was doing on his assignment. The hope was that he could invade the rebels completely, learn their secrets and then get out of their base with them before they discovered him. There were a few things that could throw off the plan and Taris had brought them up to her master but he seemed to have little care for her concerns. Perhaps he had another agenda with this mission, he was constantly moving pieces on the board of the galaxy and she knew his focus now. She was his apprentice but that could change in an instant if he found someone stronger, she knew the Sith way and she knew if she wasn't strong she would not survive. Her master had drilled the ideals of the Sith into her and constantly reminded her how replaceable she was. Now she knew exactly what he sought to replace her with and that gave her a small advantage.

The Jedi she encountered above Abafar was strong, he moved with the dark and the light, and she knew that he had to be the one to cause the fall of the Jedi. No Jedi she had ever been sent to hunt down dared to use the darkside of the force. Her master didn't tell her much about what happened before but what she did know made it clear. He had been the one to run from her master, and her master still sought to fully enslave him in the dark, all his purpose seemed bent on it. She had done her research, she knew his face and it hadn't taken long for her to use the old archives to find his name. Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi's chosen one. That made him a danger to her very existence in more ways than one and she wouldn't be destroyed by him or anyone else. She had been chosen by Sidious, and she would inherit the empire. It was all that she wanted, to continue the line and to be the greatest of all Sith.

Strength, that was all she wanted. Power, that was at the root of her desires. She was strong, strong enough to face what needed to be done. Yet she knew there was still a weakness within her. There was still something that held her back from all she desired to achieve.

 _"Your place in this galaxy isn't about the power you hold. It is about the choices you make, and the people you love."_

She flinched at the memory, the voice of her mother never left her. No matter how hard she fought to run from the woman, and her weakness. She could not escape her and her guidance. Sidious had allowed her to be raised by her mother for a time, to visit her on trips back from Mustafar but she had not understood what her master was building up for her. A test that she had passed, but that didn't make the outcome easy. Winning that battle didn't make her forget the cost.

 _"I'll always be with you."_

"You never were with me. You always were weak," Taris spoke to the memory. The reason she hated coming home. Her mother had never cared about power, she had never even tried to run from her enemy. She had allowed herself to live under Sidious's power and she had suffered the consequences of that decision. When Taris was a child she had begged her mother to take her away from this place, to save her from the man she feared but her mother had only sought to speak platitudes of old wisdom to her. She never cared enough to actually help her own child. Tears filled Taris's eyes now as she used the force to throw the furniture in the room toward the walls, still subconsciously careful not to hit the window. She collapsed to the ground now, she would be glad to be off this planet, and away from it's memories.

She let the tears she had held back through all the weeks she was here fall from her eyes, this was the weakness she knew her master hated and if he glimpsed it she would be punished. It was better to let it flow here, to spend it before the training the next day would bring. It was better to let her sorrow flow so that she could grasp her anger, so that she could find her hatred. Because it didn't matter how much time had passed, when she remembered her mother like this all she felt was guilt. Guilt for what she had done, no matter how much she justified it when she was on this planet she could not ignore it.

She had followed orders and cemented herself as Sidious's apprentice by killing her own mother. She had been resolved when she had done it, but the woman's last words and the look of love in her eyes would never leave her. No matter how much she tried to run from it. No matter what Taris had done, her mother would always love her and Taris knew she had loved her mother. That love was weakness and she had to destroy it. She had to give up her weakness to give into power. Her mother was holding her back from reaching her true potential, she was blocking her from feeling the hatred and anger she needed to feel. Because when Taris thought of her, only sorrow took her over. She was the enemy, a real enemy of the empire, she had to end.

She was shaking but she knew once this passed she would be stronger. The pain always stoked the flame of her darkness and that always brought forth more power. That was the reason it had to happen, because without it Taris would have been nothing more than potential. She wouldn't let her potential as a Sith and her life be thrown away by anything.

 _"The darkness in this galaxy will pass, and when it does you will see."_

 _"Don't let him own you. Don't let him change you."_

It was foolish to believe that the darkness could ever end. The rise of the Sith had taken so much time and that time had not been wasted. Sidious had taken over so completely and so perfectly that it was doubtful that anyone even had the power to bring him down. The small resistance of the remaining Jedi was doomed to fail. Even their chosen one was nothing next to him and his armies. No one would get close enough to touch him, and as long as he existed the galaxy would remain bound to the empire. She knew she was on the winning side, that alone made it worth it. Survival was everything, that was something her mother had never understood. She would do whatever it took to remain with her daughter, even at the cost of her own life.

Taris found the waves of sorrow passing at the foolishness she had always seen in her mother and with that passing she felt her resolve strengthen. She would see the end of the rebellion, she would see this through. She would be the next Sith master, Sidious would see that she could not be replaced by anyone. In all this she knew she found purpose and in the end her burdens would bring her freedom.

* * *

"Really?" Ri-En was surprised when she heard her master describing the pivotal role she would play in the oncoming plan to cripple the empire's operations on Naboo. Anakin's plan while crazy was brilliant but she still was not sure about being placed in the center of it. She glanced over at Jay who had also been placed with her in this plan, she wondered what purpose that served.

"You can handle it," Anakin responded, the plan was simple after all. "It is all about what we accomplish at the beginning, you are simply guarding the escape of the water. Nothing too big." Ri-En had not expected this when her master had said he was coming up with a plan, he wanted to steal the water that the empire harvested from this planet and he wanted to bring it to the rebellion. Why had he suddenly gotten this idea, what was the purpose of this?

"So we'll handle the main entrance on the water factory," Sabine spoke up now pointing to the map they had, "I have some good explosives for this, but the bigger problem is going to be around back." The rebel leader with them was nodding.

"Our gungan allies will create a distraction on the east side," Pooja filled in another piece in the plan, "while Anakin and Sabine distract with the front entrance. We will then send our group to load the water crates onto the skiffs and rush back into the forest toward the clearing where our ship will be. This plan's not bad, except for how are you guys gonna get out?" She was clearly asking the question to Anakin and Sabine. The gungan's plan was to slip into the water beside the factory and swim away out of enemy territory, which was perfect for their role. Anakin and Sabine would have less cover at the front entrance. Their plan was to blow it up with Anakin providing cover while Sabine planted her explosives.

"So we are just guarding the skiffs as they make their exit?" Jay asked now.

"Yes," Anakin and the Rebel leaders said at the same time.

"Then once the skiffs get away clean we could take a speeder or something from the base and pick you two up," Jay suggested.

"That's not a bad idea," Anakin commented. Ri-En was sure it would still all be risky but bold strategy was sometimes necessary to accomplish a goal. The whole plan was structured so that in leaving Naboo the rebel cell would leave one last mark.

"Sounds good to me," Ri-En spoke up now.

"Perfect," Sabine commented, "when do we leave?"

"We have finished loading everything on the ship," Pooja said now, "it's the perfect time to go." Ri-En could feel the excitement of the upcoming battle already.

"We'll head out in an hour," Anakin dictated what would happen next, "Sabine, organize the teams. We've got some storm troopers to take out." Ri-En smiled at the excitement of the upcoming mission, this was her chance to test her new skills. She felt her masters hand on her shoulder ushering her away from the group again. She didn't understand why he seemed so concerned about her, it wasn't like she was going to run off on her own again. She then remembered the disturbance in the force, he was more on edge about it than she was.

She kept pace with her master as he led her away from the main group and toward the trees. She glanced back at Jay who was talking animatedly to one of the other rebels, he glanced back at her and nodded. She turned away wondering what it was about him that made her take a second glance. Anakin stopped when they reached another clearing away from the rebels. Something was bothering him beyond what she could understand.

"When we are out there I want you to keep your senses sharp," Anakin instructed her. "There is something at play here, there is another force user on this plant." She caught his meaning and wondered if the inquisitors could have found them out here. They were quite adept at finding the Jedi, Ezra had mentioned his troubles with them to her. Ahsoka had been good at covering her tracks, and at shielding her and Ri-En from anyone who would be looking for them. Ri-En just assumed that Anakin was the same in that regard. But then again maybe this plot was beyond their presence.

"Do you think that was what I was feeling?" she asked him.

"It's become very clear to me that the disturbance you felt was an enemy." An enemy she could feel in the force, but then where did that feeling go? Did the enemy leave the planet or did they realize they needed to mask themselves if there were Jedi around? That meant that whoever it was had figured out that there were Jedi here. Their mission was in danger and she realized her master knew all this. Yet he still stayed, he still insisted that they go through with a dangerous plan. He was that confident that it would be a success but she was less certain. Everything had to go right, it had to go perfect.

She also realized that he had probably kept this info to himself, and to her. That meant he wasn't letting them know about the danger that they were walking into, it if was another force user than the person could inflict serious damage on the rebels that remained. Another fear hit her, what if Taris was here again? She knew she was not ready to face the Sith, she had barely survived the last time. Why would Anakin hide this info and keep it to just the two of them? That's when it dawned on her.

"You think the enemy is hiding among us," she stated as she wondered how an inquisitor could hide from her and Anakin both, especially in plain sight. They were obvious, not hard to spot in a group. This person couldn't be an inquisitor and both of them would spot Taris easily. This was different.

"That would definitely be different for them," Anakin affirmed with his eyes more than his words, "but I think that it's apparent that not everything is as it seems here."

"You let them all know the plan," Ri-En was still confused about what he was doing here.

"I know what I am doing. We have to flush them out before we leave the planet," he replied and she sure hoped that he was correct this time. She didn't want to be blindsided and kidnapped by an enemy ever again. She could still feel the electricity going through her body. She was resolved to never be helpless again, and this time she would be on guard against anyone who dared try and cross blades with her. She realized though that the enemy within would probably not want to fight.

"They're trying to learn our location," she said as it dawned on her.

"Yes," Anakin affirmed, "a spy on the inside would be more useful at this point than an attacker. The enemy knows they couldn't take me down with two inquisitors and a Sith." She wished she knew more about the rebel group now, she would not be able to easily determine who the spy could be and she looked at the ground now as she became less sure of herself. "Before we go I want to give you some pointers out there."

"But if there is a spy this whole plan could fall apart," Ri-En declared.

"I'm not going to let that happen. Besides the spy has come this far, they aren't going to reveal themselves now. Our only hope is to catch them before we get off this planet." So he really did have more of a plan. He took out his lightsaber and turned it on.

"You have a little skill blocking blaster fire," he commented, "but you are still holding back." She pulled her weapon out but he handed her a blaster she didn't even know he had with him. "I'm going to show you a few moves that might help you." She smiled as she took the blaster, of course he would have another training session for her before a battle to come and of course it was this interactive. Her new master was focused on her training and that was a chance from Ahsoka who had been too busy to really train Ri-En to the best of her abilities. Now Ri-En was sure she was growing as a Jedi, one who could stand against the Sith.

* * *

Mos Eisley was one of the places in the universe she would have hoped to avoid entirely. This whole planet was on her avoid list, she laughed inwardly at the irony that this planet was actually one of the safest spots in the galaxy. She sat inside a cantina, wondering where her journey would lead her next. Luke was guarding the speeder as she searched for information on the empires movements. She had a contact she was waiting for on this planet, before they left she needed information. No matter what Yoda had said, the thought of her daughter made her worry that she needed to find her. She had a drink in front of her for show, but she had no plans to dull her senses in a dangerous place like this. Her senses were strong enough to keep track of everyone in the room.

Her target was entering, she didn't turn to look at them she just kept her eyes on the drink in front of her. She had discovered he was on this planet a week before and made plans to meet him here when she knew that she would have to visit here. She didn't want any unwanted attention, she had been careful in entering here. There were a few imperials in the town but it was nothing to worry about. Her contact sat down on the seat next to her, not immediately speaking to her. Siri had gotten information from him often and they had agreed to always been careful about revealing themselves. He ordered a drink, his voice registering in her mind but his words being completely ignored. It had hurt her deeply when he had left everything behind, but that was so far past. Now she could look at what time had brought her to, and she could see the thing that hurt her most was now a deep blessing. For those who left the order were among the only survivors.

"Can I get you something" he asked her, she looked at him her eyes glinting as if he were nothing more than a stranger but she saw something different on his face and she knew what was happening. The game was up, what she had asked for would have been simple but he had found much more.

"I'm good," she gestured to her drink.

"What's a girl like you doing in a place like this? I hear the weather's fine on Onderon." It was a code they had used, she knew exactly what he was telling her. He was searching for the rebels, and Onderon was an obvious place to find information but he had found more. The empire's eyes were on Onderon, and it's inhabitants were in danger. The game was up, it was time to move.

"How far away it that?" she asked dumbly, she knew he understood the millions of questions racing through her mind.

"3 days at lightspeed," he responded. So the attack would take place in three days. She had three days to drop Luke at Degobah with the holocrons they had found, and she had to somehow warn the alliance.

"I hear they have dangerous parasite nearby that planet." Another coded message she was sending to him. If anyone overheard their conversation they would think nothing of it. She was asking him clearly if the rebels were nearby or if they might have landed there for the time being.

"Nothing that dangerous," she knew by his words what he was asking.

"Do you have a ship?" she questioned and Ferus's smile grew. It was a blessing that he had been compelled to leave the order, now she had him here alive. She was reminded every time she saw him that sometimes the hardest times in life could lead to the brightest moments.

"When do we leave?"

* * *

The force was calm and quiet around him. His focus was clear and edged towards what was at hand. He had seen the map of the facility but he had not realized how large it really was. The front entrance to the large building was clearly difficult for the enemy to guard, their goal was the machinery on the inside of the building. Behind the building was a compound for the guards, and a storage area for the water crates. That was where Ri-En's group would hit, and he hoped that she was successful.

He knew the dangers, he knew his worries but he also knew he wouldn't have planned it this way if he thought Ri-En was in danger. She was strong enough to handle what he was sure was coming next. Anakin had developed the same theory as his young padawan but he had gone a step further and determined the most likely candidate to be a spy was in fact Jay, the boy who seemed interested in Ri-En. He had asked Pooja about the young rebel and she had told him the boy was new to the group, and that he had helped them get out of Theed, which matched up with what the boy said about himself. The giveaway to Anakin was that the force user Ri-En had sensed had been in Theed, it was a shaky theory but Anakin believed that Jay had let Ri-En sense him to a point and then blocked himself from the force. Jay had led Ri-En straight to him then worked to earn her trust by bringing her out to the rebels.

Now he had placed Ri-En and Jay together within the mission parameters on purpose, in hopes that Ri-En would realize the truth and eliminate the threat. Of course Anakin didn't expect her to kill him, just to leave him behind. Okay he was really nervous about this. He reached out to the force to help calm himself, no use getting worked up about it. He had organized this, and he did have a back up plan if something went wrong, he just kept it to himself. Ri-En was going to be just fine.

"They're moving," he heard the voice of Sabine from where they were hiding in the treeline. She had a pair of binoculars focused on the side of the enemy base the gungans were going to attack on. He knew little about the mandalorian beside him, but on this mission she had followed orders and been effective. He knew the reason that the leaders of the rebellion had sent her was to draft a report of how he worked in the field, nevertheless he was glad that she had come. Her skills would be effective here, and even though it was off the original mission plan she had still gone along with it without arguing.

"Timing it," Anakin responded, everything in this plan was timing and skill. Sabine shifted her sight and then turned toward him.

"She's going to be okay," Sabine said turning back to her binoculars. Anakin rolled his eyes, he guessed his concern was pretty readable. He had never been able to hide his need to protect those he cared about. He knew he was a bit better at letting go now than he had been before but he had no plans to have to say goodbye anytime soon.

"I know, she can handle this," Anakin simply responded. Sabine's forehead wrinkled but she still watched the field in front of her.

"You Jedi are all alike," she spoke calmly turning back as Anakin knew confusion was evident on his face. All the Jedi he knew were crazy different. "I've seen Kanan worry about Ezra many, many times. I saw Ahsoka's concern for Ri-En after she ran off to find you. It seems you masters are always left to worry about your students, but every single time they do come back okay." Her view of the Jedi was simplistic, but representative of what she had seen. He didn't respond, he didn't need to.

Of course he worried about his apprentice. When a master chose a student it was to train and to prepare them to be Jedi, but at the same time he always knew it was his duty to protect her. He had always worried about Ahsoka when she was young, and he had just thought it was a part of who he was. Now that he had grown over his time in solitude, he understood so much more. Ri-En was his responsibility as a parent would protect a child and until she was ready he would teach and protect her. A small part of him thought back to the past and wondered if that was how he would have felt for the child he never got to meet. For that piece of himself that he had lost.

* * *

 **Sorry everyone, I've developed a kind of writers block with this chapter. It's been a busy few weeks. I said last time the action was coming this chapter, I had intended to put the full battle on Naboo here but there were so many scenes to write so I decided to save it for next chapter.**

 **I have a ton of plans for upcoming archs, I am really excited to flesh**

 **So lots of stuff here. A huge revelation about Taris and the past that haunts her, I love reading your theories and predictions. I am still making some decisions about the far future of the story but a bunch of details are now set.**

 **Did you guys see the latest episode of Star Wars Rebels? I totally cried during Ashoka's vision and again at the end of the episode. I just can't emotionally take all this. This is totally my therapy story, but I can't promise bad things won't happen. There will still be reasonable amounts of tragedy but I can't take it very far.**

 **A Winter Chill**


	17. Naboo Resistance: Jay

**Chapter 17 - Jay**

 **Naboo Resistance Part 7**

* * *

The setting sun changed nothing, the rising sun changed nothing. Nothing could change it and as constant as it was she didn't know if she cared. Taris had awoken after a long night, and she had found herself still on the floor of her apartment, still in that place where she had spent her tears and her emotions. A dull ache had formed in her head, as she wondered what was next for her in this day. Her master had training, then he was going to send her out again which would be the best thing after what she felt. This place still held too many memories and too much pain. No matter how much time had passed it was still just as potent as the moment she had let go of her weaknesses and the moment she had transformed herself.

It did no good to dwell on it any longer. She rose and checked the time, her master would be expecting her in two hours so she had some time. She looked out the window at the sunrise, and let herself smile. She then turned to shower, to wash the previous day off herself, and changed into some better robes for training. She then looked at the files her master had given to her the day before. It seemed their spies had tracked down a conspiracy that ran deep within the government. Several of the government officials were involved in syphoning off food and weapons and that was a dead giveaway that those supplies were going to the rebels. The main suspect was the senator, Lux Bonteri but any rebel involvement warranted immediate action and a full force.

Of course she would bring fire, but the emperor was wary of her failure. He was sending his associate, that part made her crazy. She didn't need a babysitter, and especially not one that hated her as much as that one did. Almost all the dark side force users hated her because they all wished they were in her position. Jay was the one she could count on and she had sent him on a different assignment. Wherever he was he would bring back something, no matter how small it was.

She wondered if Naboo was the right rebel cell to pick, she was certain it was close to extraction. Other identified cells were too small to warrant much attention. The group on Naboo was particularly annoying, so she had applied the pressure and placed Jay in as a spy. Now she wished she could have brought him to Onderon, it would be better to have someone in her corner who she knew wasn't ready to kill her.

There was no point in continuing to think about the many missions that were taking place around her. Today she would be fixated on bringing one planet into line with the empire. She would have a victory, because each battle was a precursor to the end. This war between the dissidents and the faithful would be decided by each victory and she was more than certain her side would win.

* * *

"The distraction is working," Anakin said as he watched the storm troopers in the base rushing off to fight the gungan force. Their window of opportunity had come. He nodded to Sabine, she ignited her jetpack and flew out from the tree line. He rushed running with her toward the main entrance. There were a few forces there and Sabine moved to shot at them. Anakin flipped and ignited his lightsaber in one smooth movement as he moved in for a full attack. He took out the rest of the main guards as Sabine landed on the ground and took off her back pack.

"We have to do this fast!" Sabine declared. Anakin nodded and took the lead into the base as Sabine placed an explosive on the entrance. Anakin moved down the mail hall quickly, there were enemies at the end of the hall firing on him but he kept blocking their shots and moving quickly. Sabine moved in behind him as he realized now many enemies were beyond guarding the machine. Sabine rocketed herself above him and shot a missile into the room beyond. Sabine then landed behind him as he held a hand up creating a force shield to guard them from the explosion.

"Out the back!" Anakin shouted as they rushed through the hall and into the main yard. He knew that Ri-En's group would be entering through the side nearest to the water. They stored the water in a completely different area to where they harvested it. Anakin was forced to defend again against a group of storm troopers. He moved his saber to send shots back at their opponents while sabine fired as well. Soon they were in the clear.

"Keep an eye out," Sabine shouted as she rushed toward the machine. He could hear the water in the river next to them and turned to look at it. It was a bit lower than it had been. He didn't know if destroying this outpost would do much good but at least it was something.

* * *

It was time to move, Ri-En could feel it around her before the leader of their group even held his hand up. She tensed, maybe she was not as ready for this as she thought but her master believed in her enough to put her here so she would move. The front of the group started moving. Ri-En broke out into run to make it to the front she had a job to do. She moved fast toward the outer wall pulling out her lightsaber and lighting it up. This part of using lightsabers was always easy. She stuck her lightsaber into the wall reaching as high as she could and pulling it back down in the largest circle she could make. She then pulled her arms to her side and used the force to toss the circle inside the base.

She heard the sound of storm troopers yelling inside. The rebel group ran around her into the opening with their guns blazing. She felt a hand on her back and turned to see Jay move by her side.

"Great job," he said to her. "Let's go." She nodded and followed him in. She saw the action moving quickly and jumped in to defend a couple of the rebels who were going for the water and the skiffs. This was why she was here. She blocked blaster fire without much ease. How did Anakin make this look so easy? She saw Jay out of the corner of her eye moving swiftly and firing at the enemies. His shots were perfect.

"Watch out!" She shouted as she saw someone moving in behind him. He spun around firing just as the trooper came out from it's cover before turning back to her and nodding. This was going well! She saw some of the rebels actually moving the skiffs out the opening. They would be away soon.

* * *

Anakin watched Sabine work quickly to add bombs to key places. He looked down at his timer, the rebel group should be moving the water at this point and then he knew Ri-En and Jay would be heading back their way soon with the speeder and they would need to be ready to go soon. He also knew better than to rush a demolitions expert when they were working with sensitive material.

"Almost done," Sabine said as she pulled out a data pad. "Just making sure it's all synched up!" Another guard came running in and Anakin used the force to push him back into a wall. During the Clone Wars he never liked it when things went easy. Usually when things went too smoothly that meant they were about to run into huge trouble.

* * *

"They're away!" Jay said with excitement, "let's get out of here." Ri-En was still blocking blaster fire as Jay rushed toward something on the other side of the base. She moved with him keeping a defense around him.

"Where are you going?" she asked trying to keep up. Jay turned and moved expertly firing on the troopers that remained. A hint of the force, she turned toward him her mind clear for the first time since she arrived here, something was off. He hit a few and moved around her to shoot the last ones while she defended him. All in all they made a great team but Ri-En was amazed at his skills with a blaster. His skills in general suggested he was well practiced or well trained or both. She deactivated her lightsaber but still held it in case of enemies.

"Come on," he gestured to her continuing his trajectory, she wondered where he thought he was going. She had seen a speeder back the way they had come from, they had to get to it. She followed him but the idea in her head grew, the feeling in the force had been there and her mind was finally clear. The look on Jay's face, the base was familiar somehow and though there were a thousand explanations for it Ri-En could not deny that she now understood the reason. Jay had been in theed when she sensed a disturbance, and as far as she knew no other rebel had been anywhere near the city. Her head wanted to deny it but she knew now without a doubt. Jay was the spy.

She stopped where she was, the world spinning as she realized how quickly everything was crashing against her. She had found a friend only to realize that he was really a foe. Her breaths were fast as the grip around her lightsaber tightened and her heart rate skyrocketed. Maybe it was best to wait for her master to confront him, but at that thought she realized her master already knew. He had already picked Jay as a spy and had put him and Ri-En together on this mission. He knew. That simple realization burned through her as she searched for the weak bond she had with her new master, she could not reach him.

"Ri-En, we have to go now," Jay spoke as tears sprung to her eyes. She didn't have a choice, a spy on the inside would be too dangerous to ignore. She finally lifted her eyes to meet Jay's she was sure he could see her accusation and her confusion.

"No," Ri-En spoke as she could see Jay's eyes flicker in realization, in fear. Whatever it was she saw it all but confirmed her suspicions. She looked away now to speak the words that remained. "I believed in you, trusted you..."

"I don't know where this is coming from," he was on the defensive, he was careful but in the end he was wrong. The force around her confirmed it over and over again. He was an enemy, no longer anything more yet a gentle hum within it all seemed to tell her that there might be something more to what she saw. There was more to him than just being an imperial spy. There was no time to look at it closer, her time her was at an end.

"You played a good game," she replied as a tear slipped from her eyes, and it would be the last one. She was stronger than that. "But the game is over now."

"What are you saying?" More lies.

"You're an imperial spy!" Ri-En declared now, "an inquisitor or assassin. Which is it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he insisted, "but we have to go now before more storm troopers show up!"

"I felt your presence in Theed," she declared, "you can't deny it anymore. I know it was you! You wanted me to find you!" He held a hand up as if he was going to deny it again but he didn't speak. She watched no as the mask of his expression dropped from his features and the carefully arranged kindness melted to reveal a cold expression but a sadness laid there as well. He did not have the hatred of the Sith or the cackling words of an inquisitor.

"It took you quite a bit of time to figure that one out," Ri-En couldn't tell what emotions were with him as he spoke, but he still didn't reach for hatred. He didn't even move to attack, there was a stillness about him like he was waiting for her to make the first move. Anyone trained by her enemies was dangerous enough that she was watching every twitch of his muscles, on guard for anything. "What are you going to do Ri-En? I've heard stories about you, you're not good enough to fight me. We can talk about this, it doesn't have to end badly."

"Well you might have heard I have a new master," she still didn't ignite her saber, "and I don't want to hear anything you have to say." She felt him opening himself up to the force and she stepped back at the sudden feeling. It was exactly the same as it had been in Theed, there wasn't a darkness to it nor anything sinister about it; it was bright and bold as if the force was speaking to her. She found herself wondering if it was nothing more than a clever illusion he had created or if there was more to it. She kept her eyes steadfastly on him and noticed something in his expression change.

"You feel it to?" he questioned. Her eyes widened in surprise, maybe this was really beyond both of them.

"You're not doing this?" she questioned him in disbelief. He was a liar, she couldn't trust a single word he said.

"I thought you were," he took a step toward her, she stepped back igniting her weapon in defense.

"Stay back," she spoke as she moved her feet into form raising her weapon toward him. Jay was reactionary, he stepped back as well the force swirling around him as he lifted a lightsaber from inside his boot to his hand using the force. He held it in the air momentarily before taking it into his hand and lighting up the red blade. It wasn't like the inquisitors sabers, it was single bladed. Ri-En was also taking notes on how he held it, almost as if he wasn't as sure of himself with it. That was good to.

"We don't have to fight," he offered a way out of this confrontation. "I'm a little interested in the connection between us. We were both raised to think a certain way, what if the real way is not in light or dark but between?" She knew the way of the darkside was to twist the thoughts of their enemies, she wouldn't allow his words to effect her.

"I know what I believe," she stood strong, "and I didn't have to be brainwashed to believe it."

"I chose my own path," Jay shot back, "no one had to brainwash me into taking it. Everything is a choice." She now understood his words in the forest and the reason he spoke as strongly as he did. He understood the force, he understood the darkside and he was asking her to tell him about the light side. Whatever he was he wasn't like the others she had met.

"Then what are you to them?"

"Whatever they need me to be."

"Why?"

"Because this galaxy need's order, that is what the empire is about. Without it the galaxy will descend back into chaos."

"You don't believe that!" She couldn't believe anyone would believe such a thing.

"I do," he held his lightsaber up. "And you are one of the ones who would spread anarchy, I guess my choice here is clear."

* * *

Something was wrong. Anakin could feel it around him, Ri-En was in danger. He turned back to see Sabine still tuning the bombs.

"Are you almost done?" he asked. They're time here was almost up anyways.

"I need to get this just right," she explained as she continued her work. He turned back toward the door hoping he had not miscalculated what Jay's purpose was here. If he turned on Ri-En before she even realized what was going on she would be in huge trouble. He felt the monster inside of him just below the surface, reaching for it's ever present grip on his mind and the fear and the anger tempting him to give in. He reached for his mental solitude, for his own sanity in the midst of the feelings he felt entering his heart and his mind.

It was always a war within him. No matter how much time had passed what Palpatine had done to him was impossible to completely escape. He reached for the peace he needed, for the force and the light. Calm, he was calming. Fifteen years of practice had not been in vain, he felt the peace coming but knew it was only a matter of time before he lost the war inside. That was what made missions like this dangerous.

"Done!" Sabine declared turning back to him. He nodded as they moved back out the way they came in. They reached the end of the hall and he looked back at the timer, Ri-En should have made it here by now. Sabine seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Where is she?" Anakin asked more for the effect of saying it.

"I have no idea but we got incoming!" Sabine declared taking cover, they were coming from down the hall. Anakin blocked blaster fire and backed up as Sabine ran out. He hoped Ri-En would arrive soon.

* * *

He hadn't expected her to figure it out, he hadn't expected anything really. He had blocked himself from the force, he had done everything he was trained to do and still he had underestimated the girl. Now she stood resolved to stop him, and to resist him no matter what he said. His objective would have been to turn her in this situation but she was fully entrenched in the light just like he was fully submitted to the dark. His red lightsaber blazing in front of him as he made his decision and moved to attack first. He moved in a series of aggressive strikes and he drove Ri-En back as she met his attack easily blocking each blow.

He swiped quickly and spun around hitting at her again. She moved with him but he was still driving her back. He moved with more emotion and she was on him at every moment. He had heard about her from Taris, and what he had heard was she wasn't good with her lightsaber but her movements now were quick and assured. He knew he wasn't a good duelist but he wasn't terrible. He used the force to push her back and she flew back with a scream as if she didn't have a force shield. That was it, that was her weakness. She used the lightsaber like she didn't have the force on her side. He took steps toward her as she got up, she raised her weapon toward him this time rushing to attack first.

She raised her lightsaber over her head and swiped down at him, he blocked and she spun at him throwing her strength behind the blow but it wasn't enough to stop him. He turned it back and her and gained the upper hand again. As he used the force with each move he drove her back and threw another force push at her. He watched as she held her lightsaber with one hand and used the force to catch herself against the ground.

He had seen her do amazing things with the force but for some reason she couldn't connect it with her lightsaber. Maybe if he ran a contingency plan here and captured her, that might appease Taris after his fail at getting to the rebel's main base. She was getting back up but she stumbled this time. She gritted her teeth to rise and meet him again, he watched her take a step and realized she was favoring her ankle. She had hurt it in the woods and done her best to hide it from everyone but he had seen it. It hadn't had much of a chance to heal but it wasn't serious, it could be. He threw a force push at her again, she succumbed to it but she caught herself again before she hit the ground too hard.

"You would think with how much power you had that you wouldn't fail so easily," he said to her. She rushed him once again using the same downward swipe but this time she twisted her lightsaber around his in an attempt to slice at his arm. He moved away fast, flipping out of her reach.

"I am not going to fail," she declared rushing back toward him. Using one hand to swipe her lightsaber at his. He didn't even bother much with blocking, he used the force and once again pushed her back, this time focusing much of the energy at her feet. She cried out as she was unable to catch herself this time, her lightsaber few from her hand and he knew he had his best chance now.

* * *

"Ri-En's in trouble!" Anakin declared to Sabine as he spun around slicing off the head of another storm trooper that dared to come out of the building. Sabine was firing back, she wanted to explode the machine now but with Ri-En still too close to the base it would be dangerous.

"I gathered that by the fact that she is not here yet!" Sabine yelled back as she shot down another storm trooper. Anakin turned to see a truck full of troopers driving out toward them from the other side of the base. "We got incoming!"

"I see them," Anakin could not believe their luck today. He should have known that even after all these years his plans always had the potential to fail. He started rewriting his plans, he knew they had to get back into the building. He turned towards it and decided to just go for it. He used the force to push right into it, knocking back the storm troopers and then he charged in hoping that Sabine would follow. She did.

"What are you doing?" She questioned him. He knew it was probably crazy but he'd rather face the enemies in here than out there on the open field.

"Get the entrance," he said to her and she knew what he was asking. She shot at the door panel and the door shut. Anakin sliced, and moved the force to get through the enemy lines. They worked together fast and cleared out the main room again.

"Well now we've lost our progress," Sabine declared. "We're supposed to be out there! What are you planning anyways." He started toward the nearest wall driving his lightsaber into it.

"To get us a speeder," he replied. moving it in a circle and pushing them an entrance into the compound. "And to get Ri-En."

* * *

Ri-En knew the force was her ally but no matter what she tried she was still unable to put it together with her lightsaber moves. Jay was walking toward her and she was not defenseless, she just needed to get up. She looked at where her lightsaber was and knew her best chance was to attack now. She rose quickly turning and tossing Jay backwards, it was payback for being tossed around so much, only he flew back farther than she did. Her ankle was hurting but she didn't have time to assess it, she had to keep fighting. She smiled with satisfaction as she reached for her lightsaber and called it with the force. It came to her hand and she ignited the violet blade.

She took a deep breath as Jay rushed toward her, she knew he was stronger than she was and she stayed on the defensive with his attacks. She also knew that he had spotted her weakness and was searching for a moment to force push her again. She was vigilant trying to keep that from happening but she knew she couldn't win this battle the way she was moving.

She needed something, she needed help but her master wasn't here. She kept herself on her feet and even moved to the side when he tried to push at her. His pace and speed increased, he was completely aided by the force and she lost her ability to keep up, instead of slicing a limb off Jay pushed her back again. This time she hit the ground harder than before and it knocked the wind out of her. She coughed and gasped for air.

"It really is a shame," Jay said as he walked toward her. "You'd think with a father like Obi-Wan Kenobi you'd just naturally be good at this." She turned over off her back and pushed herself up on her hands and knees still taking deep breaths. She realized now the mistakes she had made with him were numerous. Now the empire would know who she really was, and Ahsoka had worked hard to keep that from happening, she had failed in more ways than one. Jay was getting closer she had to get up, she had to get up now.

"Get away from her!" a deep voice said as Jay flew back pushed by the force.

"Master!" Ri-En cried. Anakin stood there with Sabine coming in fast behind him. Ri-En stood up, her hand grip around her lightsaber still strong. Sabine raised her gun to fire on Jay whose lightsaber had fallen by the wayside when Anakin held a hand up to stop her.

"This is Ri-En's battle," Anakin responded turning to his padawan and Ri-En felt him send her a wave of strength. She was still in pain but Anakin believed she could do this. He looked at Jay who was standing up again and calling his lightsaber. "Now finish it." Ri-En looked at Anakin with confusion. How did he really expect this from her? She was loosing terrible, because she couldn't for the life of her figure out exactly how to move as quickly as he did.

"I can't..." Ri-En started.

"You have the force with you," Anakin spoke with assurance, "use it, use it with everything you do. Don't let go of it." If she knew how to use it she would have done that already. Jay moved in fast and she attacked meeting him and spinning her lightsaber around trying to use Anakin's advice. Jay soon pushed her back again but she didn't stay on the ground long, she called the force around her. She was tired of getting thrown to the ground. She needed the force, she needed it with everything like her master had said. She called to it.

"Come on Ri-En," Jay said, "we can call this a draw." Ri-En shook her head, not today. She felt the force strong, she felt it stronger than she ever had before. Now she met his lightsaber attacks differently than ever before. She could almost see what each move he was making was leading to and she felt the force augment her movements. Now when she struck out with strength he actually stumbled back. Jay backed up away from her, and moved his hand like he was going to throw a force push. Ri-En beat him to the punch pushing him back with all that she had. He went flying backwards, his force shield didn't help him at the strength she displayed and as he fell he hit his head and didn't get back up. She shut down her lightsaber.

She jumped with excitement forgetting her ankle and as she landed it bent to the side. She stumbled, she saw the ground coming but as she felt a hand caught her arm. She looked up at her master who was grinning at her. It was then that she felt life in the force coming toward them, a group of storm troopers was coming. Anakin held on to her arm as a group rounded the corner firing. He had his lightsaber in the other hand blocking the fire.

"Get ready," he said to her as she realized Sabine wasn't near them. She had gone for the speeders. As if on cue a speeder came whipping around the other corner. Ri-En was prepared and when Anakin used the force to jump, she followed him. She landed on the back of the speeder and quickly got in one of the seats. Anakin stood up on the back and blocked the blaster fire. Sabine pushed the speeder as fast as she could, and they rushed through the base and back towards the water. Ri-En then realized why Sabine was moving so fast, she was going to jump the speeder over the river.

"Steady?" Sabine called, pushing the accelerator.

"Go for it," Anakin declared. Ri-En held on and closed her eyes as the speeder went flying. She felt Anakin move into the seat next to her and she opened her eyes to see the speeder flying toward the forest. They had done it, they had made it out of the base and the rebels had made it away with the water. Now all that was left was to get off this planet and her first mission with her master would be over. For some reason she still didn't feel okay about it. She looked back at her master as he watched the trees by them. She realized what was bothering her and she knew that she would have to bring it up to him soon.

Jay wasn't just an enemy, he had been a friend for a moment there. It bothered her to have someone turn on her so quickly, it bothered her that the force around her was trying to tell her something she didn't understand. Most of all it bothered her that her master had obviously known the full truth and he hadn't told her, he had left her to figure it out. It had turned out okay but for a moment there she had been worried. She looked back at her master and wondered why he would chose such a situation to conduct a lesson. She had failed to notice the truth until it was almost too late and that was her fault. Still he could have said something more.

Her master didn't tell her much of anything, ever. Six weeks in she knew that she couldn't expect much this soon but she still felt like he was meeting her halfway in efforts to train her. He was always trying to get her to trust him with her inner thoughts but he didn't seem to tell her much about himself either. He hadn't really let much of a bond form between them either, she couldn't call him when she needed help. She wondered if this really was going to work, or if she needed to go back to Ahsoka. She sighed as she looked away at the green planet she knew they would be leaving soon and she dreamed of a world of peace. A world with no empire and no need for a rebellion.

* * *

 **So this arch is coming to a close, the next one will raise the stakes. I am debating moving up a certain plot point and it is a tragic one but something needs to break for a few of the characters and my best writing has always come from having characters rise out of tragedy. I also don't want to bring in a ton of filler plots before hitting the hight moments. Since there is so much I am going to condense it!**

 **I hope this chapter okay, action is not my strongest area of writing but then again my emotional scenes and conversations haven't exactly been as much of a hit as normal either. I'm going to keep pressing on and hoping for the best here.**

 **So thank you all so much for your favorites and follows! I would love to hear what you think about the story. I can take criticism, I'd love to hear your opinions! So please Review, Review!  
**

 **-AWinterChill**


	18. Naboo Resistance: Dreams of the Dark

**Chapter 18 - Dreams of The Dark**

 **Naboo Resistance Part 8**

* * *

She loved possessing a flair for the dramatic, must like her master. She wore her black robes well, with a cape that was black on the outside but lined with a deep blue. She also wore dark blue gloves. Someone had once told her that dark blue and black did not wear well together but she thought they looked like space. On planets the sky looked blue and in space it was dark black. Her hair was down, her natural curls falling around her face in perfect sequence. Image was everything when making statements about rebels to the public, but she wasn't doing that yet. Once they reached Onderon she would charm the leadership, whatever it took to get the information she needed. Her skills extended beyond the force and beyond the lightsaber.

Every piece of her was designed for one goal, that was to protect the peace of the empire. The order of the galaxy depended on the things that she did, and how she stopped those who believed chaos. The Jedi were high criminals who used the force for their own selfish gains. Her first encounter with a Jedi happened when she was ten years old. One had tried to assassinate her. She had been forcibly removed from her home when she was just 7 years old and she would never forget the inquisitors coming to her rescue. The old Jedi who did it had been brought before Sidious and she had been given the opportunity to kill him. She took it. Her mother had tried to tell her over and over that the Jedi were good and that Sidious was lying to her but that day she realized the truth. That Sidious was right about everything and until all the Jedi were gone the Sith would never be safe.

Now she entered the Imperial Palace with determination, she knew her mission was important for her future as the one Palpatine would continue to train. She enjoyed walking through the halls of this place, if she wanted to live here she could but the old apartment symbolized a part of who she was. She could never give that up. Sidious did not completely approve of her sentimentalism and though he constantly criticized her she knew there was a little part of him that loved watching her fight. That was enough approval for her. She showed fear of him, but it was more of her fear of being replaced. Unless someone better showed up she wouldn't be. That was the only thing that she had left to fear, the Jedi who had resurfaced. Their chosen one and his own inner darkness.

She put thoughts of him out of her mind, she had a different rival that would be a problem when taking down Onderon. She also knew that her master would be sending more than one dark force user with her. She could make no mistakes on this mission. She would have to destroy the planet's rebel population and kill a Jedi in the process, if any showed up. They seemed to be popping up everywhere these days.

Siri Tachi had been a problem for awhile but along with her was her old apprentice, Ferus Olin who was good at disappearing. He had left the Jedi order before it's fall but his recent activities suggested that someone had continued his training, it was likely Tachi. She also knew that the inquisitors were chasing down Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger, she was told they were low targets and not to worry about it at this time. She was assigned to try and stop Ahsoka but that hadn't panned out with Tachi constantly searching for Obi-Wan Kenobi. She remembered when her master had first picked up the older Jedi, she had encountered him once. Since then Palpatine kept his location so buried that only she and a few others knew exactly where to find him. She didn't know why Palpatine spared him, but she was convinced it had something to do with the potential resurfacing of Anakin Skywalker.

Jay Carras had sent his report. He had failed to completely invade the rebels due to the intervention of Skywalker and his new padawan. He had taken on Ri-En, the nuisance who Ahsoka had been training. Jay had also found the girls real identity, Ri-En Kenobi. She was Obi-Wan Kenobi's daughter. That explained why she had gone after Skywalker and how she had gotten him to join up with the rebels. With his training she was poised to become a dangerous threat. The emperor still ordered her captured. She could not be certain of what the reason was before, but now she understood her master was trying to find anyway to trap his prey. He obviously would protect his padawan. So any threat to her would bring him to the fight and the emperor was ready to try and turn him.

Her goal now was simple. She would not tell Palpatine about Ri-En's heritage, instead she would tell the beast. His associate, and her partner on this mission. If Ri-En showed up, he would destroy her based on her name alone. His thirst for vengeance would overrule any orders. Her plan was in order. The rebellion would fall and Skywalker would die. She would inherit the empire and her power would be enough to hold the worlds together.

* * *

He watched as the colors of lightspeed burst in front of his ship and he was happy to have time to rest. It would be many hours before they reached the rebels and Anakin knew the time was valuable. He had sensed that something was coming and he and Ri-En would likely be sent out again the moment they arrived. Sabine had told him she was going to write a good report, that meant that the days of just hiding and training were over. He was now fully involved in the fight against the empire.

When the empire had formed he could never had predicted how quickly everything would fall apart. He hadn't fulfilled the expectations of the emperor, and that was one thing that he was thankful for each day. He put it out of his thoughts, he was experienced in blocking it out but still each day he faced it he wondered if the force was waiting for him to tell someone the truth before it let him go free of it. He knew that if Obi-Wan were here he would probably see right through Anakin and break open every tightly locked secret his former padawan had. As it was Ahsoka did not let up in asking him for information, but she was gentle enough to know when to back down.

Thoughts of his master and old padawan brought his mind back to his current padawan. He was ready to congratulate her over and over for finally unlocking using the force with her lightsaber but ever since that battle she seemed sullen. They had all loaded up and blasted off the planet, the Naboo rebels had been celebrating their victory while Ri-En distanced herself from it all. As soon as they left the planets atmosphere she had left the cockpit of the ship to rest. He sensed her emotions in frustrated waves, something was off.

He felt out where she was in the ship, she was in her room and awake. He knew it was as good a time as any to figure out what was going on inside her head. He walked out toward the main room in the ship there were a few people still eating at one of the tables, he ignored them and kept walking. This ship had been chosen for this mission because it had many rooms, it as still a piece of junk to him. He went back to where Ri-En was staying and approached the door. He clicked a button on the side to call into the room, and the door slid open. She must have felt him coming. He stepped in, the lights were down and a blue glow filled the room.

"...is the best use of the force when healing more major bone injuries. It's all about helping the patient along while their body takes over and fixes the damage." Ri-En was sitting on her bed watching a holocron video with a master he had never met. He had seen her watch this several times over the past few weeks. Apparently Ahsoka had given her the holocron when she tried to use the force to heal a small animal and failed. She had been 9 years old and didn't understand why she had failed. She had been studying Jedi healing techniques since then. She had never wanted to use the force to fight, to her it was a tool of healing and goodness. There was so much about this child that reminded him of his old master and how the light side was an intrinsic part of who he was.

"Ri-Wan," Anakin said saying her nickname and sitting down next to her, she hadn't looked at him she was still watching the holocron.

"Pain can cause a patient to move in ways that further injure them. To heal a break in the arm it may take several days of force therapy," the woman on the video was demonstrating how to move the force. Anakin had never been good at force healing techniques himself, he could help along minor injuries but when it came to breaks in the bone he was at a loss about how to much else besides relieve pain.

"Come on Ri-En," he said to her, "you've seen this a hundred times. What's been bothering you." She moved her hand and used the force to close the holocron, the glow faded and Anakin's eyes worked to re-adjust to the lighting in the room.

"Fine," she responded, "I am just fine." He knew better than that.

"You've been silent since we left the base on Naboo," he pointed out, "you're not just fine, you're usually much more outgoing than this." She shifted and pulled her knees up to her face, it reminded him of when he had found her in the sandstorm on Abafar. She was withdrawing again, but she would tell him what was going on. She had told him last time. "What is going on?" She took a deep breath before she looked at him.

"You knew," she said to him. He was confused what was she talking about. She furrowed her brow at his confusion and she shook her head. "You knew."

"I knew what?" he didn't have a clue what she was saying. She looked away from him and he followed her eye line. She was looking at her lightsaber that was sitting on the dresser nearby. He realized now what she was saying, she had figured out that he knew Jay was the spy they were looking out for.

"I knew you could handle it Ri-En," he had to reassure her. "And you did. You figured it out, you fought with the force and your lightsaber. You won." She shifted again as if she was frustrated. He did not understand why she didn't just talk to him and tell him how everything was bothering her. Why did he always get stuck with girl padawans? Boy's were never this cryptic. He remembered several times where Ahsoka assumed he should already know why she was upset. Why did girls act like this?

She still remained silent but now she reached out with the force to lift the holocron to her hands. She held onto it like it was precious to her and maybe it was. It had been a constant in her life and he realized how few things in her life were constant. Maybe he should have told her that she knew it was Jay, but he didn't even understand why that would effect her. It's not like she knew Jay very long, she couldn't make friends with someone that quickly.

"I don't understand why you're acting like this," he kept his patience. He had to try and empathize with her. She squeezed the blue holocron and looked up at him.

"You knew information," she insisted, "you didn't share it with me. You're always telling me to tell you everything but you won't even tell me something simple, something I should know. I realized that you want me to trust you but you don't even trust me." There it was. The classic debate between masters and padawans. Honesty was key between them but every padawan went through a phase of not understanding their masters. He remembered when he had confronted Obi-Wan about never actually talking through things. Obi-Wan kept many things about himself hidden away in the first years, and Anakin had soon learned that sometimes masters had good reasons from withholding information from their students.

"I wanted to test you," Anakin had to find a way to explain this. "I make every situation a lesson, and you learned it. You found the enemy and you beat him with your lightsaber. You've progressed so much and I had hoped that this would show that to you." Tears appeared in her eyes now.

"But it's not just that," she said to him. "I... I got to know Jay. I found a friend and lost them in an instant, but you weren't there to help me. I tried to call out for you. When Ahsoka was training me our bond was strong, I could reach out to her for so many things but it's not the same with you. You're closed off. You are constantly asking me questions but you never answer mine."

"I knew you would be okay."

"Great, but I did not know that. All I knew was someone I had trusted was turning on me. He attacked first, I barely held my own out there!" Anakin still maintained his calm, he was still confused about what she was upset about. Well, maybe he understood part of it. He understood her frustration with their training bond, he had held it at arms length. He didn't want anyone that close to his mind again. He didn't want to corrupt her with the darkness he had touched.

"Ri-En, I may not be able to open up to you like Ahsoka did," he began, "but I did have my reasons for doing what I did. You figured it out Ri-En. You did it, do you not understand that?"

"I do," she replied, "and I was excited at first, till I realized what I had lost. I trusted Jay, and it backfired without warning."

"I don't understand." He really didn't get why Jay's betrayal bothered her so much. Her face changed and she grabbed his arm before speaking something he did not expect.

"When I felt him in the force I didn't feel evil," she replied, "I don't know how to explain it but the force was telling me something and I didn't have time to figure it out. I figured out he was my enemy too late to explore what the force was saying. If you had told me earlier then I could have observed it before we left."

"What did it feel like?" He couldn't even fathom what it could have been.

"I don't know," she said tears filling her eyes again. "That's not the point though. I don't understand your methods. I don't get why you didn't just tell me the truth. I don't understand why you blocked me out." She repeated her points from earlier, she was upset.

"I'm still new at being back at training. I have my ways of teaching, you have to trust me." She shook her head.

"That is the point. I don't trust you!" She looked like she was about to burst. There was something else going on underneath all this, it had something to do with what he had felt on Abafar. There has been something bothering her for a long time.

"Then trust me now," he insisted, "what is this about?" He felt a jolt in the force, it was filled with foreboding and with an emotion he knew all to well. It was filled with fear. As quickly as it come it went and Ri-En turned away from him, once again trying to keep something under the lid, under control. She didn't release her emotions to the force, she suppressed them inside herself. She was getting close to bursting with something. She hadn't opened up to Ahsoka either because he knew Ahsoka would have alerted him.

"It's nothing," she clamped down again. "It's nothing at all. I just wish Jay hadn't been an enemy." He knew it was more than that, an undercurrent still remained. The girl who had lost so much in her life was living with a fear that she didn't want to share with anyone and he couldn't force her to tell him what it was but he didn't want to leave her like this.

"There is more Ri-En," he pushed. He didn't want to push too much. He knew what it was like to hold in his emotions, he knew how it felt to be pushed too far. But he wondered now if Obi-Wan had pushed more in the end, maybe things would have been different.

"I told you." She wasn't giving in.

"Something is bothering you." She turned quickly and looked at him, the same feeling sounded off in the force but she didn't shut it down this time. She didn't want to let him in but maybe if he opened up more she would say something. This was as difficult for him as it was for her but it was time to say something, anything that might help the girl in front of him.

"I can feel it," he began. "Your afraid of something Ri-En. I understand fear." He paused remembering the many times that fear had ruled over him. Fear had pushed him to the bring, it had shattered pieces of him that he could never get back. "I let fear control me, and my actions many times. It's torment, it drives you insane by the thought of what you fear. I tried to bury my fears and to hide them from those around me. I didn't see that by just opening up, I could have had help." He knew he needed to be more specific to really reach her but he couldn't bring himself to say much more. He didn't want to say what had happened because he didn't want to replay it in his mind. Some things were better left buried.

She remained silent about what was happening, she turned away from him again once more gripping the holocron in her hands. He couldn't pry it from her. She would open up to him when she was ready, that is what he had to believe. Maybe he could meditate on it and search for it in the force. That was what he resolved to do, let the force help him help his student. He stood up to leave the room when he remembered that Ri-En had been favoring her ankle. He turned back to her.

"How's your ankle doing?" he asked. She flipped the holocron into the air.

"It's on the mend," she responded looking down at the blue square. "Master Jenoa gave me some good tips for fixing it up." He would never understand why anyone would find a healing holocron interesting but it seemed to be such a comfort to Ri-En.

"Well get some rest." She nodded. It was difficult being a master again but in time Ri-En would communicate with him. He had to believe that.

* * *

Anakin sat in the main room of the ship, the Naboo rebels had gone to bed and the ship maintained a gentle silence. He had placed himself in a light state of meditation searching for information and watching the force move and struggle amidst the darkness. He could see it all, it was never right unless there was balance. He could feel the force's pain and that only came from the many years of meditation. The force was his ally as he warred the fight within himself, it guided him in the battle but he knew he hadn't faced a real test. The real test would come when he was faced with a choice of staying the path and protecting someone he cared about.

He tried not to care but it was a part of who he was. He couldn't help it. He cared about Ahsoka, his old padawan had grown so mature as she fought the empire no matter the odds. He cared about Ri-En, in the short time he had known her he had seen a potential in her to be a great Jedi master. She could become key in rebuilding the order when the fight ended. He cared about his old master, wherever Obi-Wan was he felt obligated to chase after his friend. He had no idea where to start there but he made it one of his goals to reunite Ri-En with her family. He knew that Ri-En was afraid because she was afraid she would never see her parents again, it was simple but it was completely evident. He could tell her he knew but he needed her to actually tell him herself.

It was difficult being in charge of training her and caring for her. She had a history of being abandoned and no matter how strong she seemed that emotionally effected her. She wasn't quick to speak of what was going on in her head but she acted on it on it. He had seen her use the force in fantastic ways, she was tuned to it but her emotional state held her back. She lacked discipline but she was willing to learn. She took in every lesson even the ones she didn't enjoy and she had used a lightsaber correctly on Naboo. He would train her and he knew throughout it that he would have to protect her from the many dangers in the galaxy.

He was pulled from his thoughts and the force around him by a person entering the room. He opened his eyes and turned to see Pooja entering. Her eyes met his and he was struck by how much she looked like her mother, Padme's sister. He hadn't really gotten to know Padme's family, it was a regret he had. Being a Jedi and marrying her in secret had kept them from being able to have much of a normal marriage.

"You're still up?" she questioned.

"I don't sleep much," he replied. It was the truth. Meditation gave him much of his needed rest, it was better to be alert to dangers out here. He also hated the dreams that always tried to interrupted. He no longer had visions of the future, just new versions of the past. He saw himself failing to resist Palpatine, he saw himself becoming a monster. Those were the things he wanted to avoid.

"I guess being a Jedi nowadays is pretty awful," she said sitting down on one of the chairs in the room.

"It's not bad if you know how to lay low," he had succeeded for quite awhile. It figures a Kenobi would be the one to track him down. She was silent for a moment, she seemed to be considering a lot. She probably had questions, everyone had questions. He was getting kinda tired of the questions.

"When the empire formed..." Pooja began she was going to ask questions, he could feel it. "I can remember the day it all happened. My mom, she was so upset and she kept saying that Palpatine couldn't do this, that someone had to stop him." She paused and looked him in the eye. "But by then the Jedi order was gone, and all our hopes of the republic lasting went with them. My mother told me that the Jedi were good, that everything had to be a mistake. She believed that." Pooja had tears in her eyes now as if remembering some horror of a bygone day. "She stopped believing the day they brought Padme's body home." There it was. Of course she remembered him because he had been a friend of her aunts. Of course they would want answers.

He knew the story. He knew what Palpatine had done and how he had worked to try and frame it. He couldn't do anything about it, he was powerless and he had been too late.

"I know it wasn't the Jedi who did it," Pooja state simply, "I might have believed the narrative for a little while, but being a part of the rebellion and seeing the atrocities committed by the Emperor. I know it wasn't the Jedi who killed her. She always trusted the order, from the moment they saved Naboo." What was she getting at. "Do you have any idea what really happened to her?"

 _"ANAKIN!"_ He still heard her scream in his mind. He heard it every single day. His memory pulled up the images of the explosion, and he threw them away again. He hated the helpless feeling that he still felt when he remembered.

"The emperor ordered her killed," Anakin heard himself saying.

"Why?" Pooja and the rest of the people of Naboo had no reason to blame Palpatine. They had no reason to question the empire's version of the events because they did not know anything about Padme's secret life and Palpatine's fight to turn Anakin. All Padme was in the senate was a war objector, her opposition could never be misconstrued as hostile. Palpatine might have wanted her out of the way because her voice was one many would be drawn to. That reason alone might not be enough but it was all Anakin had.

"I remained good friends with your aunt throughout the clone wars," Anakin said as he downplayed the truth.

"I always assumed as much," Pooja replied, "she did talk about you more than the other Jedi. She held the Jedi order in high regard." Padme had not visited home much but when she did Anakin was never able to go with her. Several times he had been assigned to protect her on missions, it was pretty well known by the people in their social circles that they were friends.

"She used to tell me that..." he paused, he hadn't talked about Padme to anyone in all the time he had mourned her. He had said nothing. It wasn't easy for him to talk about her, or so he thought but here he was and the words were in his mind. All that was left was to say them. "She was a strong believer in the republic and in democracy. She always told me that if the system was corrupt then by it's nature it would right itself, as long as good people were willing to fight for it. I was always critical of the senate, I didn't see much good in what they did..." He remembered all their little political arguments, he always loved how she fought for what she believed in. She died for what she believed in.

"We used to watch her speeches at home," Pooja commented, "I've never forgotten. I always looked up to her." He knew that she caught his applied meaning, that her political leanings made her dangerous. It would be enough for now. Maybe with more thought she would just have more questions.

"She would have been proud of you for standing up against the empire," Anakin knew what he said was true. If Padme was still here she would fight the empire, she wouldn't have run away and sulked at the farthest planet she could find.

"I like to think she is watching over me," Pooja said, "I know it sounds silly, but sometimes when we were on the run from soldiers or saving an innocent I imagine my aunt is here with us." He didn't believe she was. From what he knew about the force, every trace of her was gone. He could not say that, he could not shatter the belief of a girl missing a galaxy in peace so he remained silent.

* * *

Degobah, one of the most cursed planets in the universe but as much as Siri disliked it she would take it over Tatooine any day. It was comforting to be on a planet without a ton of criminals just waiting to collect a bounty. She had to keep changing her basic appearance to keep them off her scent. Luckily for her she had experience being undercover. She had dyed her hair Brown recently and chopped most of it off. She also had changed her wardrobe dramatically. If they caught on she would change again but for now it was fine. They had arrived in the night while Yoda was asleep. Siri figured her news could wait until morning. She had come back simply because she wanted to keep Luke out of the next mission. She had a bad feeling about what was coming.

Now the morning had dawned and while Ferus and Luke were still asleep she could feel that Yoda was awake. She stepped out of the ship and walked carefully through the swampy ground. One thing she did miss on this planet was any sense of light. There was enough to see by but it was always dreary and never beautiful. The foreboding around her reminded her that this place was dangerous in it's own way. There were many dangerous creatures and poisonous plants around. She walked through the draping trees and brush toward the clearing where she knew the Jedi master would be.

He seemed to be in deep meditation so she approached slowly and sat on the ground. She opened herself up to the force, to that place of oneness with the greatest power in the universe. She could feel an unsteady movement in the force, a disturbance was coming once again. The force was a great mystery, one she did not wish to unravel. She was content with touching it and knowing that it was with her. She cared little for the thoughts the Sith had to control the will of the force. She was just happy to be part of it's will. She was pulled into a trance, observing the living things in the universe and the struggle between the light and dark. She held her breath as she watched the darkside, a huge mass moving toward the remaining light. The light that remained was small and fighting to stay alive. This was the force in the universe now, balance was so far away and everything was a huge mess.

She pulled herself from the meditation as if such a sight was too high for her. She was simply a Jedi fighting to see order and justice in the galaxy. She didn't need any glimpse of what was happening to know that the situation was dire. The light was diminishing as if some part of it was about to go out.

"Seen it, I have," Yoda's voice. She turned to see the small green master was outside of his meditation now, and he knew what she had seen. "The force, in pain it is. Better, it is not getting."

"Is it getting worse as the Jedi die off?" Siri questioned, "are our ranks about to thin again?"

"Moving, the enemy is," Yoda said as if considering something. "Unsure of where and when, we are." She knew now was the best time to bring up the planet that she believed was in the most danger.

"Onderon," Siri spoke eagerly, "the empire is getting ready to launch a massive attack on Onderon. Taris will no doubt be a part of it. Ahsoka is there as we speak, she has no idea what is coming." Yoda's ears poked up.

"Sensed I did, that Ferus had returned to us," he replied completely off the topic that Siri was focused on now. "Information, he found?"

"He's been tracking the rebels," Siri replied, "I know you said Ri-En's destiny was out of my hands but I wanted to know when the empire would be moving against them. I want to be there, because I hope to see my child again." Yoda's expression softened, there was a sadness there. He had experienced the loss of order as much as she had, sometimes she forgot how much he really did feel. He was so wise, so put together and so able to let go of the things that would otherwise weigh him down. She knew how to let go but it was never easy.

"To go to Onderon, a mistake it may be," Yoda spoke clearly, "Trust Ahsoka, we must." Siri knew Ahsoka was dedicated to protecting the rebels and all their movements. If the empire moved against Onderon she undoubtedly would have a plan and Siri knew she would protect Ri-En with her life. Still Siri was weary from her searching, and tired of training Luke. She just needed a glimpse of her daughter, affirmation with her eyes that she was okay.

"I can't stay away," Siri responded, "I will be leaving with Ferus today. I came back to bring Luke to you. It would be better to keep him away from whatever Sidious is planning." Yoda nodded, she knew he saw that he could not convince her to stay. She was set on going.

"Careful you must be," Yoda cautioned, "Underestimate Taris, you must not." She knew he was right. The girl was getting strong as time passed, her hatred of the Jedi was growing. She would be a formidable threat of her growth was allowed to continue. Siri hated that the girl was chosen to be a Sith as a child but she believed it was far too late to try and help her. The only viable option would be to end her.

* * *

 _Fire, she could see fire. It wasn't clear to her what was going on around her. Ri-En was on the ground, there was fire on buildings around her. She rose, trying to get a grasp on where she was. She heard voices, so many voices. She grasped her head, what was happening? Where was she? She ran through a street searching for any sign of what was going on. She rounded a bend and didn't know what she saw. People were running in terror, storm troopers were chasing them. She reached for her lightsaber and she didn't have it. She looked around in terror when a person was screaming and running toward her. She shouted but the person didn't hear her and ran right through her. The scene faded and she found herself spinning._

 _She was standing in a city, her hands on a lightasber, but the blade color wasn't hers. She was holding a green blade strong in front of her, a person stood there that she couldn't see. It was shrouded in shadow. She was more confused by the ligthsaber she was carrying. She looked down at the hilt and was shocked to find it looked exactly like her own. She looked back up to the figure and he was gone. Everything was gone._

 _She was on Onderon now, she recognized it from the many times Ahsoka brought her to the planet. She was in the jungles, it was night it was darker than she had seen it before. Her lightsaber was violet again and she turned from the feeling of fear around her. Taris was sanding there, her red lightsaber like fire in her hand as she walked with confidence like a lion towards her prey. Ri-En stepped back she may have beaten Jay but she was not strong enough to face Taris._

 _"You're afraid," Taris said her voice cold, "you have reason to be." She moved fast and Ri-En barely had time to block. She kept moving with Taris, trying to hold her own against the enemy._

 _"I am not afraid of you!" Ri-En shouted she felt anger filling her. Taris didn't mind her at all, she kept moving with strength and assurance._

 _"Your fear is a normal reaction," Taris sneered at her. Ri-En used the force to flip away, how did she get into this battle? How did she get out of it. She remembered the moves Anakin taught her and jumped back at her opponent with aggressive swipes. Taris caught them and drove Ri-En back. "You are not strong enough to stop me Ri-En. You're not strong enough to save them. I will kill your father, I will kill your mother. I will destroy Ahsoka and I will kill your master. Once all of those are gone I will destroy you! I will destroy everything." Ri-En watched in shock as Taris's eyes turned yellow. She screamed as Taris drove her back to the ground._

 _The scene changed and Ri-En watched her mother get killed by Taris again and as she watched in horror she saw her mother reach up to touch Taris's cheek. Ri-En looked around as the scene changed and saw a monster standing over her, sneering at her._

 _"I am your doom Kenobi," he said his menacing eyes were yellow, his face red and back. Malice and hatred poured around him and he basked in it. She cried out as his lightsaber dug into her her eyes looked around as the world was going dark and she still saw Onderon._

* * *

Ri-En burst from her dream screaming, the room around her disappeared because she was screaming with her heart on fire. She couldn't contain herself like all the other times, her dream had never been so real. She had never seen everyone die, she had never see it all end. She was afraid, everything around her was colored with the fear the she could not contain. She couldn't hold it in. She was aware of people around her, she couldn't see any of them. The images of the night burned inside her brain torturing her mind and ripping apart her belief in hope.

She felt hands on her arms, someone was trying to grab hold of her. She shook them off. When the end came she would be the last one, she had seen it. A voice started entering her mind, a voice strong and yet gentle. Someone was calling to her in the midst of the darkness around her. Someone was calling to her mind. She screamed out again searching for the light. She needed the light.

"Ri-En wake up!" The voice of her master sounded out in the physical realm and in the force. The sound cracked through her brain, snapping apart the things she buried as Anakin called her through the force. She broke free from the trance and from the dream and found herself really back in her room on the ship they had taken to Naboo. Her master's hands were holding her arms, his face taunt with worry. She glanced back around him and saw Sabine and a couple of the Naboo rebels. She was shocked by what had happened. Never had a dream been so powerful that it could break apart part of who she was. She felt warm tears coming from her eyes as she looked at her master shaking her head from what she was seeing and feeling. Anakin nodded to the others and they left. He then pulled her into an embrace. She was still in shock, still afraid.

He had been right when he had told her that she was feeling so much fear. He had tried to get her to speak of it but she never wanted to acknowledge the bad. She wanted it to disappear, to be nothing but an illusion but it was reality and she could not outrun it. She was afraid that her parents would never come back and that their loss wouldn't be the last one she faced. What if there was more to these dreams?

What if there was more to the ending of this one? Would her fate be the same as the other Jedi in the universe? Would she die soon?

"It's okay," Anakin said softly, "you're okay." He then let go of her and looked her straight in the eye. It was clear he wanted answers, she could say so many things but her words were simply not profound.

"I can't..." she couldn't finish her face buried in her masters cloak. She couldn't speak, she recognized it was because she was terrified of the monster in her dream. She was terrified of the hatred he had within him. She was terrified that she might die. She held onto him, afraid that if she let go the images would come back. She could feel him in the force sending her comfort and peace.

After what felt like forever the tears stopped and she finally felt able to speak. She let go of her master and looked up at him, there was no upset or judgement on his face. She opened her mouth to speak but he shook his head to silence her. He stood up and beckoned her to follow. She obeyed, simply knowing that her master did have things to say to her but realized how incapacitated she was.

She followed him to one of the back rooms of the ship, it was where they were keeping the food for the trip. She realized everyone else on the ship was sleeping as she walked and saw no one else around. They walked into the room and she sat down at the table, she felt exhausted. She watched as Anakin opened various boxes around the room and put some of the ingredients into a couple of cups. He then sat down across from her and placed the cup in front of her. She took it looking down into the liquid and seeing a strange brown color. She sipped it, it was warm and delicious.

"Your father and I used to visit a café in Courscant," he said putting his cup down, "I loved getting this drink there. I learned to make it during the clone wars, it isn't difficult. It's comforting after difficult missions or after nightmares." There it was. Of course he knew, it was obvious what had happened to her.

She took another sip of the warm drink. She let the force wash through her mind, pushing away the images that flooded through her. She didn't want to speak of them but it was unavoidable.

"You had a vision back on Abafar," Anakin asked more pointedly now. "You had one again tonight. Have there been more?" She thought back to the first vision she had ever experienced, it was before a mission. She had seen the outcome before it had happened, she didn't tell Ahsoka about her dream then. She had watched the rebel fleet loose a battle, many lives were lost and they were forced to flee. She still didn't tell her master. She was 12 years old and frightened of what had happened. She had experienced other dreams but not all of them came to pass.

"They started when I was 12," Ri-En responded, "it was my dreams that told me where to find you." His eyes widened in surprise. She knew he probably hadn't thought much about how the force had led her straight to him. She had known by then that her dreams were visions, they had told her she would find the chosen one on Abafar. From there she hadn't seen him in a vision until she actually got onto the planet. She would have recognized him sooner if she had seen more. "Not all of them are real."

"I don't mean to make you recall what caused you so much pain," he began, "but what did you see?" She knew what he was searching for. She knew how he understood that the dreams were directly related to her fear. She searched his eyes for any hit as to how he knew this so quickly.

"Onderon," she had to get the planet out of her thoughts. She knew that planet so well because Ahsoka had taken her there many times. They were supplying the rebels, Ahsoka had gone on a mission at the same time they left for Naboo. Ri-En knew it had to be Onderon. Everything was pointing here there. Tears filled her eyes. "I saw so many things. I was fighting Taris. My mother..." She stopped.

"She died?" Anakin questioned. He understood it so well.

"I've seen her die the same way in my dreams," Ri-En felt the strength of the emotions that swirled around her. "I've seen my father wrapped in the darkness. I've even seen glimpses of the past, of the Jedi temple being destroyed." Something flashed through his eyes for a second but it was gone so quickly. She knew he was there the day it all fell apart, that was all that they really knew about what happened to him back then. "This is the first time I've died." She said it.

Something hung in the air for a long time as Anakin was processing what she was telling her. She took another drink of whatever was in front of her. Anakin was locked inside his mind, and she felt nothing from him.

"What happened?" he asked her. "How did it happen." She didn't want to remember but at his question yellow eyes appeared in her head, the face of darkness.

"A monster," she realized she was shaking. "His face was painted red and black. He had yellow eyes. I was on Onderon." She could hear her own heartbeat. Her masters face made it clear he knew who this figure was. It wasn't an invention of her nightmares. Her enemy was real.

"Ri-En..." Anakin seemed a little overcome by the information she was sharing. He took a deep breath before speaking again. "Not every dream shows the future as it is. Sometimes it shows us possibilities, things that can be avoided or trade offs we may have to make. Nothing is certain."

"But what if this is?" She shook her head. She knew one day she would die, but knowing the end could be near was completely different.

"I am not going to let that happen." Could he really prevent this?

"But..." He waved his hand again to silence her.

"You must let this go," he said, standing up again. "The fear that you feel now will destroy you if you do not. No one can really know for certain when their end will be, this dream could just be a trick of the darkside." She knew better than to respond back this time.

"I can't let go that easily," slipped out before she knew it.

"I know," he said gently. "Ahsoka told me you bury your emotions, you don't face them and release them like you should. Maybe we should tone down on the lightsaber training and spend more time in the force." He reached out to her with the force. She wasn't sure what was happening.

She was unaware of how much Anakin knew the truth about how dreams could haunt the mind. He knew the way the dark side seeded into fear. He couldn't let this destroy her but he didn't have an answer. He had to do what he thought was best at this moment. He reached out with the force doing something he had only done once, when he had arrived on Abafar. He knew it might not work on a mind a strong as Ri-En but if she just let him in it would.

"Let me in Ri-En," he asked simply, she had said earlier that she didn't trust him but maybe she would let go of that right now. She was still as she dropped the guards around her mind. She trusted him enough now. He grabbed ahold of the vision she saw letting the images flash in his mind he felt the emotion behind them and he buried it. He blocked them out, erasing the memory of these images from her mind.

Ri-En realized what he was doing and was shocked as she realized why her trust had bought her. The dream disappearing from her memories. Anakin knew that now he would erase a trust Ri-En had in him, he would have to build it again but she wouldn't remember this night. She would no longer be afraid, that was the tradeoff. He alone would bear the burden of what she had seen. He reached out erasing their conversation, and erasing this moment. He left her unconscious and unable to fight him as her last memory would be when she fell asleep.

It was a difficult decision to make but he didn't know what trick the enemy might be playing. If these dreams were real he would do all he could to save Ri-En but it would be better for her if she knew nothing. It would be better if she didn't have fear. He stood up and picked her up carefully to take her back to her room, she would wake up in the morning as if the dream had never happened, nor the conversation with her master. He hoped this move would not backfire on him in any big way. He hoped he would be able to protect her from whatever what coming. For if Maul was still out there, Anakin would see to it that he never got near Ri-En.

* * *

 **I never like posting late at night. I had this ready to go last night and decided to hold off till this morning. This is the time when updates may come slower in favor of longer, more detailed chapters. This happened with a couple of my other stories.**

 **Let me know what you think of the longer more defined chapter but leaving a review. I love reading your reviews, they are wonderful inspiration.**

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 **AWinterChill**


	19. The Fire of Onderon: Fear

**The Fire of Onderon: Fear - Part 1**

* * *

 _Sand, she was surrounded. She gritted her teeth together as sand whipped into her eyes. She wasn't sure what was going on, she reached out into the force and found nothing. She reached with the force again to propel the sand away from her and as she did the storm ended and she found herself back on Abafar. She saw the cave that had been Anakin's home in front of her and wondered why she was here. The force seemed to be telling her something. She walked forward into the unknown, she wondered what she was getting herself into._

 _Inside the main cave she saw many paths, one was screaming to her. She stepped into it and into the darkness beyond. She couldn't see but she didn't need to yet the force was driving her on. The dark was unnerving, dangerous and threatening. She went deeper and deeper into the cave until she found herself setpping into water. She heard the ripples go far around her. She reached her hand to her side to draw her lightsaber. She ignited it above her head as she stepped forward again._

 _She was in a deep cavern, there were all sorts of rock formations above her but the light shined on the water. That must have been instrumental to her masters survival here. She glanced across the water seeking it's end. She saw it and felt drawn to get to the other side. She wondered how deep the pool of water was. She felt a tinge of fear at the unknown stretching before her. She walked a few more steps as the water grew deeper and she realized she would have to swim. She turned off her lightsaber and focused on moving in a straight line forward. She threw herself into the water and moved with siftness through the water, she reached her hands out as she slowed down and searched for the shore. She reached her hand down and felt the rock._

 _She lifted herself out of the water and lifted her lightsaber up again, igniting it and letting the glow show her where she was. She was on the shore on the other side, and she pressed onward down another cavern. She found the light increasing around her and soon turned off her lightsaber. She found the source of the light as she emerged into a huge cavern, there was an opening above her and moonlight shined down on her. She didn't know why the force had brought her here, nor why she was back on Abafar but she followed it. She glanced around searching for a sign, and she saw it. There was a large chest in front of her. She stepped toward it not knowing why she felt sorrow in the force._

 _She placed a hand on the latch of the chest, wondering what in the world was happening around her. She lifted the lid off the large chest and was suprised at the lack of dust on it. What she did see hit her with a flood of emotion as voices sounded off around her. The box was filled with lightsabers, there must have been hundreds of them. Voices continued to sound, shouts, fear and anger. She felt fear so tangible she fell back from it. Tears came from her eyes as she scanned the room for any focus points on the voices. Nothing came as she pulled herself inward to escape the flood of what was around her. She was shaking from it and as it faded she felt void and lifeless._

 _She opened her eyes and looked up in the room around her, the chest was still there. She stood up and stared at them as the answer was right in front of here, these were the weapons of the fallen jedi. She wondered now within the dream if her master had really gathered them all or if this vision was merely the force trying to tell her something. Why did she constantly see pieces of the day the order fell, why did she need to see the lightsabers of the fallen._

 _"Ri-En," she heard her name now, from a voice she didn't recognize. It was warm and kind, someone was calling to her. "Ri-En." She turned as she felt the force centering in on a prescence. As she did she saw a man, blue and ghostly. His hair was long and partially pulled back, his face was old and kind. Something about him seemed familiar, as if she knew him._

 _"Who are you?" she questioned, "why was I brought here?"_

 _"Because your actions may determine much of the future," the man responded, "as to who I am, I think deep down you already know." She looked at him closer and remembered the words of her mother and the memories her father had shared with her as a child. Her visions, everything seemed to be telling her who he was, a name she only knew a person she had never seen. Her fathers master._

 _"Qui-Gon?" she questioned._

 _"That is who I was," he replied, "when once I lived."_

 _"You trained my father," she stated, "do you know where he is?" She looked back to the box of lightsabers, fearing his might be added to the fallen._

 _"Your fear does not do you well," the old jedi stated, "your fathers location is shrouded from me, but I do know he still lives. I didn't come here to discuss him, nor to help you get him back, though I can tell you that you will see him again someday." That was more hope than she had gotten before, she had wondered if he would return when she brought back Anakin but nothing happened. There was no sign of him._

 _"Then why did you come?" she questioned, "why does the force keep showing me pieces of a past I had no part of?"_

 _"Like I stated earlier your actions will be important in the future," he said, "you are one of the last remaining jedi, and now the padawan to the chosen one, the world around you is fast changing and the force wishes you to understand what caused the end of the last order. Decit can take many forms and it is decit that caused their end, you must understand how to divide truth from lie and how to help your master to move forward from his past."_

 _"What past?" she had wondered about that more than anything. What was it that had caused Anakin to run? Sure the order fell but her father and mother lost everything as well and they didn't run like he did. They didn't hide from the universe in the same was and simulate their own deaths. "What happened to him?" Images floated around her, and they weren't clear. It was of her master with a woman, her master with her father, her master in the clone wars._

 _"His past is his to tell," Qui-Gon said as the images faded, "what you must know now, the reason I came is to tell you to let go your own fear. Even now your master will seek to leave you off the next mission. Remember these words, whatever it takes you must go to Onderon, you will face a trial there that will determine who you will become. Do not fear and do not give into hate but whatever you do, go to Onderon."_

 _"Why would he leave me behind?" she questioned. She wasn't so sure about the trust she had placed in her master. Why did he do the things he did?_

 _"Because he see's what your own fear does to you," and Qui-Gon's eyes grew sad as he spoke, "because he knows what fear did to him. He wishes to protect you by taking everything upon himself. Now is the time for you to step up. You've got to follow this leading, you must go to Onderon." She wondered what trial awaited her as the vision started fading. "Go Ri-En and remember the light does not seek vengance, remember to let go of pain, to let go of fear and to let go of anger."_

She woke up as the dream faded, she found herself back in her room on the rebel base, she was still shaking from her encounter. She glanced at her chronometer and saw it was deep into the night and the base was sleeping. She sat up and moved quickly across the room, listening in the force to see if her master was still in the next room over. He wasn't. She quickly pulled on a warm jacket and her boots and moved out of the room. Her hair was loose and as she ran she tied it back. She wondered what was going on, and as she searched for her master the base ignored her.

It suddenly hit her, she then turned and ran to the hangar in a rush. The force was leading her but she wasn't moving fast enough, she felt an urgency. She couldn't move faster but she realized she shouldn't have paused when she woke up, she should have immediately moved. She ran faster than she ever had before and as she burst through the hangar doors she saw a fighter blasting out. She knew exactly who was on it and what was happening. Anakin had left her behind, she was too late.

* * *

*****3 hours earlier*****

* * *

Anakin was still as he watched Ri-En practicing her lightsaber forms, he was holding himself in a light meditation as the force was silent. He had been searching for answers since he had removed Ri-En's memory of her own dream. He wasn't sure what was going to happen, if the dream was a trick or a real premonition, in any case he would do whatever he could to avoid it. He knew that was the wrong path, he had been at these same crossroads before. He still hadn't learned to really let go.

He was careful about how he reacted to Ri-En, and she was strangely distant since everything that happened on Naboo and with the dream. She could never know what he did and how he dared to reach out and erase her vision, it could hold keys she didn't even know. He had searched for the past three weeks but had found nothing. They had gone on another small mission since then to steal some supplies from an empire outpost and it had gone off perfectly. Still there was this nagging feeling within him that they were on the edge of something bigger. He wished Ahsoka was around to speak too about the foreboding, he would not confide anything in his padawan. If she had any inkling of what was happening he didn't want her to have any fear.

What was worse fear of the unknown or fear of loss? Did he really fear loosing Ri-En? He had lost so many already, was this dream she had a warning to her about what would happen or a test for him? Should he ignore it, or should he take every precaution to protect Ri-En? What would this thinking lead to? He caught her glance in his direction, she knew something was up whatever he had tired to hide. Their force bond was tentative and small, but it was growing stronger day by day. She would see more soon as would he.

He pulled himself from his grim thoughts and focused on examining her movements, she was getting better every day. The lightsaber that she carried was always with her now, she never put it with her droid. She even slept with it next to her. She looked forward to practice forms and practice spars now, and she was moving well with the force augmenting every move of the weapon. She had made so much progress so quickly, he wondered how she felt about her progress. He stood up, he knew she was well warmed up and it was time to spar.

"Ready?" he asked as he walked across from his young padawan, she was still so small. He wondered if the young girl was going to grow anymore. It always struck him how much her eyes echoed his old masters. She nodded, not speaking any words as she moved her lightsaber foward, her stance ready for the spar. He hadn't personally sparred with her much yet, he prefered pitting her against Ezra who was more near her skill level but Ezra and Kanan had been gone on missions for the past few weeks.

Anakin turned on his lightsaber, the blue blade hummed with life, he didn't waste any time as he moved skillyfully toward her, she met his advance with her blade but didn't immediately counter. She was trying to read which form he would use against her, that was good. He moved again, and she instinctually met his attack, another good move. She was light on her feet this time as he moved she moved away, with a flip and then came at him from the side. She was still a bit clumsy but as he met her attack she moved in again, he could have stopped her but this was instruction. He preffered to see what she could come up with next if he didn't end it there. He stepped back, she charged in again. He could read her movements as she sought to disarm him.

She left herself wide open as he used the force to push her back, she used the force to keep herself from flying far backwards, she was still on her feet. She still rushed to press her attack, she wanted to stay on offense. He pushed back, and she was forced to defend as he gained back the offense. He tested her defenses with a series of quick strikes. She caught most of them, one of them was too much but she was fast enough to avoid it.

She spun her lightsaber in her hand as she flipped back away from him, she read well that he would beat her with how cluncky her defense was. She sought to regain the offense and he saw her reading him as she moved back toward him offensively. He realized she was trying to use his own moves against him, and to a certain extent he let her hold that upper hand. He could see in her eyes that she knew what he was doing, so she stopped. She moved back again and came at him with a different offense. None of her moves were fluid but she didn't seeme to mind as she moved in fast. He caught her lightsaber and twisted his own blade around. Her lightsaber went flying away and he held his own to her throat. The end of the spar.

"Much better Ri-En," he stated, "you're offense is strong, but you need to remember that the base to a good offense is a strong defense. You must always make sure your focused on your opponent as much as you focus on your next move."

"So much to remember," she muttered as she used the force to call her lightsaber back to her.

"As you learn it because less of a mental exercise," he replied, "more of a instinct. You're learning slowly how to use your instincts and that is good."

"It doesn't help if you let the fight last longer," Ri-En responded, "if you can end it sooner just do it, I'll learn better if you don't do anything like letting me feel like I'm winning." She did see what he was doing.

"Okay," Anakin said lifting his eyebrows, "I won't go easy on you then."

"Good!" She exclaimed as she moved quickly igiting her lightsaber and attacking immediately. He blocked her blow. They spared on a few more times, Anakin won each one quickly. After that Anakin led her into a deeper meditation to clear her mind and so that he could better understand if she had dreamt anything again. When that ended he knew it was getting late and it was time for sleeping.

They ate dinner together as he still stayed very observant with her disposition. She wasn't exactly telling him what was going on in her mind but he didn't mind that. Her trust was something he woulg gain more over time. He remembered his own distant relationship with Obi-Wan in their first three years together, how his master had seemed like he didn't trust Anakin with information and how Anakin felt like he couldn't trust his master. There was a turning point in their relationship as Anakin's powers grew and he relied more on his master to get through the difficult battles they faced. He almost forgot that experience because training Ahsoka had come so easy. Once he had accepted her as his padawan she had been so eager to learn. He found he fell into the role of master quite well, until she left. He never thought he would train another jedi again when that happened.

After dinner he told her to go sleep, she looked like she needed it. She probably assumed he would be resting as well. What she didn't know is that he had no intention of resting, something was going on in the force and he intended to find out what. He walked down the halls of the large ship alone, he was searching for Commander Sato, anyone who could tell him what was going on. As he walked into the hangar he saw the commander talking to one of the clones. Anakin wondered how many had joined on, he knew Rex was involved but he had yet to see the old clone.

"Sato," Anakin stated the commanders name.

"Skywalker," the man said, "just the person I wanted to see." Anakin raised his eyebrows. He saw the Ghost in the hangar, the group must have just arrived back.

"What's wrong commander?" Anakin asked him, "I can feel it in the force, something's up." Anakin didn't care what people around the base felt about jedi and how much they looked at him in awe when he knew what was going on.

"We've been moitoring many systems around the galaxy," Sato stated. Anakin saw Kanan entering the hangar from the other side and immediately approaching them, Hera was behind him. Sato continued. "Recently Ahsoka went on a secret mission to one of the systems, it was s routine supply run from our allies. We keep our alliances secret so that the empire doesn't punish them for helping us." Anakin's brow forrowed as he felt it within him, he knew what system this was. "The system she went too is now under seige by the empire and we haven't heard from her since she left." His heart sank, he was going to take this mission to bring Ahsoka back but he knew what planet it was.

"Onderon," Anakin stated. Sato's brows shot up again. "It's Onderon, isn't it?"

"Yes," Sato responded, "we need someone to go and see what is going on the planet, a good pilot who can break through the blockade and someone strong enough to fight well once they get to the surface. I was just discussing sending you to the planet, with your padawan." That was what Anakin knew wasn't going to happen.

"Ri-En is not going anywhere near Onderon," Anakin heard himself stating. "I will go, but she will remain here, safe."

"That is up to you," Sato replied. Anakin looked to Kanan.

"Watch over her while I'm gone," the jedi nodded.

"We'll do that for you," Kanan stated, "but it's probably better if Ri-En goes with you. You just started training her, and this mission could take time." Anakin knew the advice was well meaning and good advice in any other situation. He also knew the rebels might send in another team if he didn't get back to them soon enough, he had to make sure Ri-En never arrived on the planet.

"She can't go to Onderon," Anakin insisted, "make sure that no matter what happens that she never gets to that planet, for her own safety." The group looked confused at him, "just trust me." He wished he could explain further but until he knew what was coming he didn't have any words to describe it.

"I understand," Kanan stated, he knew it had something to do with the force and that was enough for Anakin.

"Do you have any more information on the nature of the seige?" Anakin questioned.

"Our contacts in the imperial senate got through to us," Sato responded, "There's been very little mentioned about the seige, but Darth Taris was gearing up for a large campaign at the right time to head to Onderon, that's all we know." Anakin weighed what he knew about Palpatine and Taris, he knew that with this development that if Maul had anything to do with the emperor then he would be sent as well. Ahsoka was trapped, if she hadn't been killed already and he felt that she wasn't.

"I guess I must leave immediately," Anakin stated, "ready a fighter. I will go and bring Ahsoka back."

* * *

***Present***

* * *

Ri-En found herself staring out of the hanger after the fighter that left bearing her master. She stood her ground wondering what had happened to make him go on a mission without her. He didn't even tell her about it, he didn't even say goodbye. She felt defeated, like her master didn't trust her and she couldn't trust him. Her dream had been so pointed, Qui-Gon had told her Anakin would leave her behind. She hadn't been fast enough with the warning she recieved.

She walked away from the hangar, her shoulders down as she wondered what came next. Her superiors were constantly chiding her for going off on her own and doing what she felt was right. In this instance she had direct instructions from the force and from an old jedi to go to Onderon. She knew what she had to do, but she was afriad to do it. Fear was not the right way, she had been told by Qui-Gon to let go of fear and pain now. Whatever she knew now she had to realize Anakin thought he was doing the right thing, she would have to trust that much, but it wouldn't stop her from doing what she thought was right.

In the face of uncertainty she would have to be brave.

* * *

 **Sorry it's been so long. Life got crazy, my health wasn't quite where it needed to be but all that is over now. I am excited to get this chapter out. I had a original draft and a different starting point that I was working from and it was just bad, so I scrapped all I had and started over on this arch. There is something I am going for and this is just the dramatic intro!**

 **Thanks to all my reviewers, those who have been waiting! Please leave a review and tell me what you think!**

 **AWinterChill**


	20. The Fire of Onderon: Determination

**The Fire of Onderon: Determination**

* * *

Why did everyone do this to her? Brush her aside like she was just a child. She contemplated that much in the night that Anakin left. She was as much of the rebellion as any of them, yet they treated her like she had no agency of her own. They treated her like she was weak, that was something she knew she was not. She felt it in her heart that it had to be something more than that, but everyone was the same. Ahsoka was careful with her, Kanan was careful around her and Anakin was careful about what he let her do. This was her mission, it was for her.

She thought of Qui-Gon's words, Onderon was a trial she had to face. Those words would have scared her the day before. Now she knew that her master had rushed into danger without even telling her, that somehow changed things. A determination sunk deep into her soul. She wasn't going to give up on this mission, nor would she back down until she made it to that planet. Already Sato had said no, and the clones had refused to take her this time. She had a few more ideas about who could help her. She would have made the move on her own but after careful evaluation of the hangar and the rest of the ship she found she was being watched.

They had been wary of her rash moves after she left to get Anakin. No one cared that she had been successful, they cared that she had been caught on Abafar. No one remembered her successes, just her failures. That didn't matter, because she knew what her successes were and what they meant. Now she watched the ship as much as they watched her for it would take a force of will on her part to win this stalemate her master had left her in. The good thing was that Ri-En was never one for giving up.

* * *

The takeover of Onderon's capital went quite easily for Taris and her ally, Maul. She hadn't expected it to go any other way, through the emperor seemed concerned. The resistance on the planet was crushed in an instant, but the main rebels had escaped. If it wasn't for that detail she would have left the planet after the takeover. She knew that she could not do that now. She had to complete this mission to the best of her abilities, and she was determined to not only root out the rebels here but the ones in space as well. She wanted to crush them before they grew any larger.

She did have a lead, that rested in her dungeon below. She hadn't expected to actually encounter one of the Jedi here, much less the elusive Ahsoka Tano, who didn't even consider herself as jedi. She could answer many of the questions that Taris had, she just needed more persuasion. That would take time, Tano was strong. Taris paced in the throne room of the planet as the governor of the place wrung his hands together.

Their imperial governor has failed this planet, if Ahsoka had gotten away with taking supplies from their rebel population so many times. Taris wasn't quite sure how she wanted to deal with him, killing him outright would make an example of him but finding a replacement for him would take time. If she did that she would have to act as governor for a time, she didn't want to do that. This governor had made one right move, he had contact the empire when he realized what was going and tracked the movements of his traitor senator Lux Bonteri, until Ahsoka was on the planet. She had been trapped when the empire had descended. Taris was glad the campaign had gone so smoothly in it's first stages, that bode well for what was coming next. She sighed as she saw Maul enter the throne room, he was supposed to be leading the search for rebels.

"Maul," Taris stated, "any leads on our friends." The creature before her was disgusting to her, she had never liked Maul nor feared him. Even as a child she felt an unusual disdain for the monster.

"Nothing of importance," the creature stated, "only a ship that our blockade shot down in the jungle, our troops are there as we speak searching for survivors." Taris reached out in the force, that was why she was so uneasy. There were survivors, and she could tell by their presence exactly who.

"Set double watches around the city," Taris declared to one of the nearby captains, "and sweep the jungle I want them found!"

"There is no need," the crazy former sith apprentice spoke, "i've already ordered these things to happen, we wouldn't want the jedi to get away this time would we Taris?" So he had sensed it too. She knew what he was referencing, her previous failure with Skywalker and the girl. Kenobi, Taris's eyes narrowed as she found herself in a staring match with the alien that was supposed to be her ally and she knew deep down how much of an enemy he was.

"If you have a problem with me Maul, you can take it up with Sidious," she spoke very pointedly, "as it happens I will find the jedi, and I will have a victory here. You will not interfere." She kept her cards away from him for now, she would spring it when the time was right. When she knew the girl was within reach, for now she would have to focus on a different problem, for Tachi was a nuisance and a loose end she would rather tie up before her time on this planet was over.

"Whatever you wish my lady," he stated with a bow, she could see the glint of deceit in his eyes. She waved her hand to dismiss him and she walked down another hall. She wasn't going to let this opperation fall apart, nor was she going to let Maul have any credit for it. She was going to do whatever it took to get rid of as many enemies as she could here and that included him. He didn't even want to be under Sidious's control, he was trecherous and a snake she could not trust. She would see an end to this, she walked to the control room. She had a call to make. She typed a sequence in it, this was a risky move and the emperor might not approve it but she had to see it through.

"This is Jay Carras, what is your bidding Lord Taris?" She smiled at the mention of the title she preferred.

"Jay, I am going to request you be transferred to my unit on Onderon," she stated right into business. For her plans to work she needed enough resources to ensure the Jedi would be split and distracted. If this was to work she needed to make sure everything fell into place perfectly.

"Yes milord," he responded.

"I will also be outlining a few requests for what kind of military aid I need," she stated, "make sure everything is done according to my specifications." He bowed again. She knew the jedi were strong and she could not defeat Skywalker yet but she had something she was sure would win her the day. She was smart enough to think of a way to outclass them. She knew the weakness of the jedi ideals and she would fully exploit them.

"It will be done."

* * *

Siri stood on a mountaintop staring down into a valley, this planet was under siege and her and Ferus had walked right into it. She wouldn't have it any other way, she felt it in the force that this was where she was supposed to be. She smiled as she saw the imperial troops below, they were investigating the wreckage her and Ferus had left behind. They would have to find another way to get off the planet, she was completely fine with that. It had been a long time since she last went on such a daring mission. She could feel a fire in her veins one that many jedi never had. She was born to fight, to be the one who took back the world from the current darkness. She felt drawn to this place, to see the world change again for the better.

She looked up from her binoculars toward the city beyond, that was where the empire was holding it's prisoners, some of the main leaders of the planet. She knew they had been plotting with the rebels for sometime, but it was unknown how the empire found out. The empire seemed to always be a few steps ahead, she had seen that they sometimes monitored threats without striking until they knew that the threat could become significant. The emperor wasn't one to waste resources and the crackdown on this planet had been immense. They would have to be extra careful when treading on this place. They didn't look much like the natives but she knew how to move invisibly, that would have to be enough for now.

She walked over to Ferus who was splitting their supplies. They didn't have much time if they wanted to find out what was going on here and if anyone was savable. When Siri originally chose to come to this planet it was because of information that Ahsoka had landed here, she didn't expect it to be this insane. She just wanted to get back to her child.

"Are you sure about this?" Ferus asked her, he was speaking of her plan. They were going to split up in search of any rebels or friendlies that could help them. She was going to the city nearby and he was going into the wild. She should have left from Degobah immediately when she got the news of Onderon, but she waited and that was on her. She had much to do, she sorted through the holocrons left behind by Obi-Wan and it took awhile before she could find the message from him that he had left for her. She carried it with her, she knew it was important, especially now that it was certain that Anakin had returned.

"We have to find out what is going on here," she replied, "I don't see that we have much choice. We can be more invisible and cover more ground on our own. She pulled out a communicator and threw it to him. "Let me know when you find something, I'll do the same. Stay safe out there." He smiled as she took the pack from him. It was like old times. She still remembered when she chose him as a padawan, he had been so strong and such a fast learner but he also lacked the ingenuity to know that rules could be broken. So much had changed, she was broken by his decision to leave the order but that seemed so long ago now that it turned out that move saved his life. Had he been in the order he would have suffered in the Clone Wars and he would have died.

"Don't get yourself into any more trouble than you have to Siri," he said, sounding quite like his old self. She had grown use to his newfound recklessness, training him again had been fun.

"Then how will I have any fun?" she teased as she swung the pack onto her back. He smiled as they parted ways and she moved toward the city. This adventure was going to be something to remember. She walked on with so much strength. Siri Tachi had suffered much in the past 15 years but one thing she had never lost was her spark and will to fight.

She still remembered the day Obi-Wan left their group on his quest to find Anakin, she had been so ready for such an event because she always knew it was coming. She had stayed behind because of Ri-En, but she knew the girl would also have to learn to let go. Making the decision to leave was easy, because she knew in her heart that there was a part for her to play beyond where she was at the time. She had been right, her decision to leave led her to Obi-Wan and Luke just in time. If she hadn't gone Luke might have been retaken by the empire. That was worth everything.

Now she had arrived on this planet at the exact time that it seemed she was needed. She was ready for a fight and if the Sith Lady was here she would give her that fight. Still Siri felt an uneasiness about this place, because Yoda had warned her that the battle ahead would bring great pain. She felt it in her soul, she would see Ri-En and she would protect her child. Let the dark side come at them, they would not fall.

* * *

Peace, that was what he felt in space. Anakin had a plan, but for now he waited for his ship to arrive at it's destination. He figured this was the best time to meditate since it had been so long since he had really gotten this much time on his own. He reached out with the force and found a place of peace, every time he did this is was apparent how unbalanced his soul remained. The years had done nothing to change that. He didn't know how he was meant to bring balance to the force. The jedi said he had to destroy the sith, but was that enough?

He had always been suffocated under the expectations and pressure of that destiny. He didn't realize what it meant as a child, he was just excited to become a jedi, but as he grew older it broke into him. He remembered confiding in his master when the pressure started to really cause problems within his mind. He was unable to put to words what was happening so many times, when the darkness crept up on him. When Palpatine lied to him with words like honey that soothed his soul. The conflict within him had been too much to bear then, and he had found solace in the teachings of a sith. He still wondered, what would have happened if he had thrown himself completely to the dark side? He still felt that darkness within himself, waiting to come forth.

Fear, that was the beginning of it and still the one thing he seemed to be unable to completely end. Fear, anger, hate. His anger was tempered by so many things, somehow he didn't fall prey it even in the harder times. He still felt guilty, because he would never escape the things he did do. He wasn't fully jedi anymore but he didn't want anything to do with the sith. He didn't want anything to do with hatred, he feared what he could become. He feared what he would do to those he cared about it if he really did become it. Because in the moment he would have raised his hand against his fellow jedi, his family, he saw his future. That image haunted him.

The creature in a mask, the blackened soul. Who he would have become was cold, void and desolate, like the darkness beneath the planets of the galaxy. No life existed in the darkest corners of the world. He felt like no life existed in him on Abafar and there were times where he begged the force for death. Pain was what he had clung too and somehow that pain was what kept him alive. Somehow he wasn't bitter, but rather determined because he knew now where bitterness would lead. He spent 15 years staring into the force, wondering how such an amazing thing would want anything to do with him after what he had become. He began to realize that the force itself was in pain, more than he was. For it suffered as it's child suffered, and it wept when he wept. It was darkened by the rise of the sith and it remained that way because it's chosen one did nothing for so long.

Now he reached out into the force, now he touched the tendrils of the life of the galaxy around him and he felt something he hadn't felt in a long time there. There was so much light, and he began to realize that as the light grew within himself the light in the force was coming back to life. He held onto so much still, and in this moment he could feel the grip of his soul loosen. Release was coming for him. Somehow standing up and being a part of the world again was helping him more than he had realized. Training Ri-En was helping him to remember who he was meant to be. He had to remember who Obi-Wan and Padme believed he was, and what he could be.

Perhaps he would always be conflicted but at the moment he was determined to overcome the parts of himself he hated. His emotions were more than mere words, they were pieces of him he would learn to deny and learn to use. Perhaps just by being aware of them he would find balance, time would tell. The end was far from over but at the moment he felt peace.

In what seemed like a moment he heard his monitor beeping, he would be out of hyperspace in mere moments. He would be right in the big middle of a blockade, one he knew he was strong enough to break through. He focused on the force around him taking in the moment as he dropped out into the unknown. He smiled as he saw the blockade, he would have mere seconds before they noticed him.

He didn't have an astromech droid to help him here, just his wits. He preferred it this way, every since he was a child he knew the wonders of flight. His monitors were beeping as the enemy sent out tie fighters to try to take him down. He smiled as he evaded the first wave. He pushed his ship to a greater speed and moved through the large ships that were focusing their fire on him. The ties chased him as he spun in a circle causing two groups like waves to crash against each other. He smiled as a couple were shot down by friendly fire.

He moved evading one of the starships shots and spun around it. He wasn't up here to fight, he just needed to get through the blockade. One of the starships fired a couple of missiles, he was brought back to a battle many years before. He couldn't keep the smirk off his face as he spun around and the missiles hit each other. A couple tie fighters were caught in the blast and the whole field's attention was now on bringing him down but they were too late. He boosted the acceleration on the fighter and sped down to the planet.

He had predicted that at least a few ties would follow, he wasn't worried about it. He descended quickly, his ship jerked and bounced in the atmosphere. He saw a few red areas on the scan of his ship. This fighter wasn't as good as he wished it was but it had gotten him through, now he hoped it stayed in one piece for what he was doing next. One of the ties had locked onto him, but he had reached the planet. He dived down into the trees and flipped his ship sideways to avoid the shot, trees fell behind him as he flew up and out of the forest. He had flipped up just in time, he fired on the ties that he had at his heading. He scored a direct hit on one as the other evaded him.

He had the upper hand though, now he was the hunter. He moved quickly after the tie who's pilot was clearly out of his depth. He fired quickly taking down the enemy. For a moment he thought he had made it. He then saw more ties coming down from the atmosphere, they had decided not to leave him alone. He moved back into the tree line, a bit clumsily this time as he brushed the side of a tree. He almost laughed at the thought that Obi-Wan would not like being a part of this flight at the moment.

There were blasts coming through the tree's but they couldn't get a good lock on him. He prepared for the clearing ahead by pushing his engine to the limits. He reached out with the force to time his next move and seconds before he emerged from the tree line he ejected from the cockpit. He was still in the air when he heard the small fighter crash into the trees on the other side of the clearing. There were still shots coming from tie pilots who were slow to react. The ground was coming fast and he used the force to slow his descent. When he landed on the ground he took a moment to breathe. It had been a long time since he had done that, he still had it after all the time he spent outside of fighters.

Now he stood up wondering how long it would take to get to the nearest settlement, much less to find the rebels. That was only the beginning of battles he would face on this planet. He was glad he had made it, now to find his old padawan and to find a way out of this place.

* * *

Boredom, that was what was coming now that she had absolutely nothing she could do. Kanan had spoken to her about Anakin's instructions that she train with him and Ezra while he was away on an important mission. Commander Sato seemed to back of Kanan's story that Anakin instructed her to remain where she was, and she knew exactly what the planet was. They were ignoring that piece of information, that her master had gone to Onderon. Whatever was happening there had to be huge, why else would Anakin keep her away? The danger must have been immense but Ri-En felt no fear now, only determination. She would get to that planet.

She listened to Kanan's instructions about lightsaber fighting but the words went right by her and even her last spar with Ezra had been a blur. She had won, for the first time she had actually beat Ezra. Her mind wasn't too focused on every little move, but it was singularly focused on winning every battle before her. She didn't care what fighting tips Kanan had for her because he wasn't her master. He didn't understand how she felt now, like she was being left out of something huge. Anakin was trying to teach her not to just rush in on instinct, but when it came to the simple things he taught her too use her instincts. It was all too much for her to really understand. Now she knew one thing, Qui-Gon told her she had to go to Onderon. She had to do whatever it took to get there.

"I'm done for the day," Ri-En stated as she held her hand up for Kanan to quit speaking. She clipped her lightsaber to her belt.

"We're not done yet Ri-En," Kanan responded, "Anakin had instructions for you to do a few more spars each day, and to run through the forms as much as you could. We're not done." Ri-En rolled her eyes, she cared little for what Anakin's instructions were at the moment.

"Don't you see that I just don't care," Ri-En responded to him, "this whole thing is crazy. Why won't you tell me anything? Where did my master go? Why did he go without me? Can't you just give me one answer?" She knew the answer to where, she knew a bit about why but she wanted to hear what Kanan thought. He didn't immediately answer her.

"Your master believed this mission was too dangerous for you," Kanan finally responded, "he wants you to stay here, to stay safe." He wasn't sure about the whole situation, the girl in front of him was very upset and he had no idea how to deal with her. Ri-En had been passed around to different caretakers her whole life. She was effected by her parents leaving, she was effected by Ahsoka's inability to fully train and care for her and now her new master was leaving her off missions. What else was going on underneath. Kanan reached to the force for guidance, he needed to know what to do.

"He went to Onderon," Ri-En stated shocking Kanan, "I know because the force told me. What's happening on Onderon." Kanan turned to Ezra who was also looking at him as if expecting an answer. What was to be done with Ri-En? With her connection to the force she seemed one stop ahead of them, she had found Anakin when many others had failed repeatedly. The child was gifted beyond what Kanan knew to handle. Something had to change, that something was supposed to be Anakin. He seemed like the perfect master for her, to help her manage her abilities but now Kanan saw clearly with the force. Ri-En and Anakin's bond had hardly formed, the older Jedi was holding back from her.

"His only thoughts were to keep you safe," Kanan didn't want to overstep his authority here, "he must have his reasons." Tears were in her eyes now.

"And what if I told you I don't care about whatever reasons he may have," she stated, "because I have to get to Onderon. I don't know anything about what is happening or what needs to happen but I know when the force is telling me something. This time it's not even a hint, it's clear as day, I need to get to Onderon. I'm not wasting my time here when I know what I need to do." Perhaps announcing she intended to go off on her own again wasn't the best idea, but she was exploding with her frustration.

"Ri-En," Kanan chided shaking his head, "you can't do this again. Last time you went off on your own you got yourself into trouble, the outcome was okay then because you did find Anakin. What I am trying to say, that he think's it's better for you to stay behind, you have to trust him." Her face echoed the exact problem, because she knew she had to trust him but she couldn't. She knew what she had to do.

"I don't trust him," she stated her mind remembering her visions, remembering the room with the lightsabers. She wondered if that place was real, if he had gathered them all and made a shrine to them or if it was symbolic. What could it mean? And the question that filled her every single day. Why did he run? "He doesn't trust me. He didn't even tell me he was leaving. If he had talked to me I could have told him, I have to go to Onderon."

"Kanan," Ezra spoke up now, "I think she's right." Kanan had almost forgotten Ezra was here, the boy was silently watching the proceeding. The girl wasn't just frantic, she was practically pleading with him to help her.

"Anakin said that you were to stay here," Kanan stated again.

"Onderon is my mission," Ri-En spoke with such conviction, "it's my trial, where I must go to face what is to come. I must go, there is no other path before me, no other choice. If I run, I may never become who I was meant to be. This decision is not up to him anymore, it's mine to make."

She had said all she could, she knew that. She knew that this could go either way, it could end any chance of her getting to go to the planet, or it could be the thing to turn the tables. With their help she could get off this base and on her way. The danger that was ahead would be immense but she felt it in her very soul, this path was right and worth it.

"We'll help you Ri-En," Ezra spoke up now, "I think I understand." She felt a strength within herself as she waited for Kanan's answer.

"Wait just a minute Ezra, I haven't decided yet," Kanan replied.

"Oh you've decided," Ezra said, "I can feel it as well as you can, we have to help her." Ri-En's eyes fixed on Kanan, she knew this was her one chance, she needed someone to help her this time,

"Please," Ri-En simply begged.

"Okay," Kanan heard himself saying before he could stop himself. This could be a very bad decision on his part but Ri-En's words stuck to him. Something was going on beyond what he could understand and he felt the force speaking to him clearly. He had to help Ri-En. She wouldn't get out of here without help since so many were watching her after her last attempts to change the world on her own.

"Thank you," Ri-En said clasping her hands together and bowing respectfully.

"Now how are we going to get her out of here?" Ezra said.

"That's not the first of our concerns," Kanan replied, "Onderon is under siege, being blockaded by the enemy. Getting onto the planet is not as simple as it seems." Ri-En turned and glanced at her droid.

"I have an idea," she replied with a smirk. She was learning a thing or two from her new master, sometimes reckless tactics were the way to go. "But you're not going to like it."

* * *

 **I'm back in the swing of things, this is more board setting for the arch but I am excited for what I have next. This arch might be the longest of the archs I have written but there is so much that happens in it.**

 **I have been listening to a ton of Ivan Torrent while writing lately it's awesome.**

 **Bonus Question:**

 **What are you looking forward to the most in this arch?**

 **1\. Anakin vs. Maul**

 **2\. Anakin confronting childhood rival Ferus**

 **3\. Ri-En and Siri on the same planet**

 **4\. Taris's growing strength**

 **5\. Ahsoka, because Ahsoka's awesome**

 **Please leave a review, and answer that question and tell me why you chose the answer you did because it's fun to hear what you might be looking forward to.**

 **Thank you my wonderful readers!  
**

 **WinterChill**


	21. The Fire of Onderon: Doubt

**Sorry about my long absence from fanfiction, I am dealing with a lot right now and it's difficult to find time to write. I hope you enjoy this chapter, the action is revving up.**

 **The Fire of Onderon: Doubt**

* * *

 _It was dark in the room she crept through, she could feel the presence of her enemies in the force. She felt a sick satisfaction in her veins as she stalked her prey, her face twisted in a wry smile as she reached out with the force. The sound of a blaster went off she moved first and quickly holding a hand up with strength, the force reached out and the blaster bolt hovered before her. Her eyes however were not on it's light but on the enemy who had fired it. She simply stepped out of the way of it's trajectory and let it go. It hit where she had been standing, a good shot. Taris gritted her teeth together, this was as much a battle for her life as it was for his._

 _"Is that really the best you can do?" she questioned, "I could feel your presence before you even tried to fire." The enemy gritted his teeth._

 _"Then you feel my companions," he spoke, "and you can block one blaster blot but with no lightsaber can you really handle all of us." As he finished his sentence a group of blaster bolts fired, it was like they were in slow motion. She moved quickly dodging the volley and the next that came as she leapt up to the higher ground the enemies were on. Her eyes were wild with fury, her moves quick as she lifted a hand. She was deadly. The force around her caught the first man in a chokehold but she was aware of his companions. She lifted him up and sent him flying toward the group, she used him as a shield as his body caught the blaster bolts. She leapt over him as he was in midair. She reached out with the force, slamming two of the men together._

 _With the flick of a wrist she snapped the neck of another, her mind reached out in the force to choke the second to last as her hand found the neck of the last one. She felt frozen as she squeezed his throat, he struggled she watched. Her mind was blank as the man she had in a force choke fell and died but the one in her hands continued to struggle. She felt fire as she tightened her grip, his body shook as life left him. She let go and stumbled back at the carnage before her. She nearly lost her balance at seeing it, the bodies of her enemies. They were nothing but rebels._

 _She looked at her hands wondering what she was, she saw the door to the training room opening. Her master loved this kind of thing, capturing rebels and telling them they'd be free if they defeated her. He even let the next candidates watch as she took out the first batch, giving them a chance to learn her methods. This time he had sent her in without a lightsaber. He had sent her in with nothing but the force and her bear hands._

 _She walked off the platform as guards came in to remove the bodies. She could hear shouts through the next door as the next group was chosen, they were afraid and they had right to be. Her master stepped into the room, disapproval was all she saw, it was all she ever saw. Nothing she ever did was good enough for him, she felt the enemy within her. She so carefully suppressed any defiance, hiding it from his gaze but she knew it existed within her. It was the enemy that sought to remove her from her path._

 _"You are skilled Taris," Sidious spoke the words like a snake, perhaps that was all he was. "But you have tools you do not use, you can not truly discover your true power unless you stretch out with you anger, your hatred." He paused gazing into her eyes, pressing with the force into her mind. She didn't resist him because she knew it was futile. "Your fear." He turned away and kept talking. "No lightsaber, 20 enemies this time. Destroy them." She felt her breath catch as he left. "Arm them with all kinds of weapons." He told the guards. She faced back to the training ground her mind now raging as a storm. What she needed was within her, she just had to let it out. Fear was her ally now, fear would help her survive._

 _Anger was the weapon she needed, but anger was something she still couldn't harness. Hatred on the other hand, she knew hatred._

* * *

The memory stuck to her mind, Taris shuddered. That training session had nearly been her end, that was what she had to look forward to when she returned to coruscant. More training, because Sidious would keep pushing until she unlocked her hatred. She hadn't succeeded in that battle. She had defeated every enemy but she had done so with cold calculation, not the power of a Sith. She hoped within the time she was here, she could bring back something that would make her master happy.

The jungle planet was humid, the heat stuck into the air around her when she was outside of the nice buildings that had been built here. The people of this planet were used to their home and didn't mind the musty atmosphere, where as Taris found herself hating it. She longed to return to space, that was the home she found the most peace in. Aboard her command ship everything felt right, now she wished she had a shuttle prepping to take her up to it for a moments respite from the draining planet. Not just the atmosphere was bothering here, there was an inking in the force that she was struggling to understand. She felt like a war had started without her, something was odd about it.

Her master was very focused on teaching her to harness the force for power and advancement but she often found herself treating the force like a living entity, like it could feel. She wondered about it, if it could feel her using it in anger and she wondered if it could speak. And if it could, what would it say? She knew that she was growing as a Sith, and that the dark side was a powerful ally but she wondered what the light side was. What about it made it so dangerous to the Sith? Why did the Jedi hold the sith in such contempt? She wondered if the Jedi were prone to the same emotions that made the Sith powerful. She thought of Skywalker who fought her as someone not so entrenched in the light as the others. He had an anger in him, something she couldn't understand or even fathom. The Jedi were completely corruptible and it was clear to her that her master had tried to corrupt Skywalker.

That was the only explanation she could come up with as to why a hero that was so well known in the galaxy before the empire would vanish without a trace. The old stories made him seem invincible but she knew that no one was invincible, not even her master. She guessed it was just the way of the Sith, power bread hatred and jealousy. She already felt that growing toward her master, but he was much stronger than she was. She would have to become stronger and Skywalker was the perfect test. She wondered now if what she felt in the force was a warning or a telltale sign that her enemy was here. She could sense Siri Tachi, but she had only fought Skywalker once.

She had lost badly, and even at the present she knew she wasn't ready to fight him again. She was just glad she had Maul here, she never thought she would think such a thing but he was the perfect distraction. She stood at the top of a stairwell descending now to confront the person who knew Skywalker best, someone who had fought with him many times. She smiled as she entered the dungeon and saw the prisoner sitting awake, but in a state of meditation.

"I don't mean to interrupt," she spoke in a perfect courscanti accent, "but I do believe you are due for another questioning." The Jedi before her breathed deeply, drawing on the force as she opened her eyes to look into the face of her captor.

"Hello Taris," Ahsoka spoke with a sigh, "You must have nothing better to do now that your takeover of this planet is complete. You want to know more about where Lux took the rebels? I think I made it pretty clear that I do not know anything about it. I was just an envoy, I only came to this planet to pick up supplies. I know nothing about how these rebels work." Taris had heard this already, she and Maul had tortured and question Ahsoka. Taris had sought to break down her mental defenses but Ahsoka was too strong for her. That didn't matter, she knew how to use cunning to get what she wanted.

"Actually I've come to talk to you about a friend of yours who I believe has just arrived upon this planet," Taris said assuredly taking a seat outside the cell, making it clear she was determined to be here for awhile. "The one with the darkness in him." Ahsoka's eyes had been closed but they opened at those words, her eyes narrowed at the girl in front of her.

"All of my friends are Jedi, entrenched in the light Taris," she closed her eyes again, "and non of them will ceom to this planet once they hear it has fallen" Taris smiled.

"Skywalker would," she stated simply, no reaction from Ahsoka. "Did you know when my master took over Coruscant and the galaxy, the day he destroyed the Jedi temple he was able to gain access to all of it's records. The Jedi kept an extensive library of the force and information on their own, everything they had is now at my disposal. I looked into this Skywalker, I like to know my enemies. For when you truly know someone you can gather the keys to defeat them. You Ahsoka are one of my keys, the girl Kenobi's daughter is the other one." This got a rise out of Ahsoka as the Torgurta's face contorted into a frown, confusion filling her eyes.

"Her name is Ri-En," Ahsoka simply responded.

"Her name means little to me Ahsoka," Taris replied, "her last name however makes it clear why you protected her the way you did. Skywalker would seek to protect her as well, his weakness is clear as day. He would seek to protect those he loves, perhaps that is why he was so susceptible to my master." Ahsoka's eyes hardened.

"Anakin has never been susceptible to your master," she spoke roughly, "he's a Jedi, and a good one. He'd never succumb to the darkside." Taris smiled, a wry smile she knew, there was nothing happy about her at this moment.

"No question about it?" Taris asked, "because Ahsoka, my master has spent many years searching for the apprentice he lost. The one who ran. Rumor has it around Mustafar that it was a Jedi our master had turned. That he helped our master destroy the Jedi, that he led the clones in to kill all those that remained in the temple. When I met Anakin it seemed to be not too much of a stretch to believe he was this one. You may deny it Ahsoka but there is a darkness in him, that was clear to me with the way he fought. He fought more like a Sith than a Jedi." Ahsokas eyes hardened but deep in them was the seed that Taris knew she was working to plant, doubt.

"Your wrong Taris," Ahsoka insisted now, her voice growing louder. "I know Anakin, he could never do such a thing. He may be flawed, but he would never betray the Jedi." Taris shrugged. Her mission here was working, she knew that all she needed to do was create doubt. She herself could not be completely sure the apprentice was Anakin but it seemed to be the closest option. Her master had reacted when she had said his name, he had called himself Vader. That information she would save for her next move.

"Of course you could be right," Taris replied, "I'm just guessing, I really do not know him like you do. All I know is what I've seen and what I've seen makes me think Skywalker has touched more darkness than you know. The Jedi taught that one you start down the path to the darkside that it will forever dominate your destiny. I think you know what that could mean for your friend." Ahsoka closed her eyes now, blocking Taris from seeing what was going on in her mind. Taris smiled now, she was getting the reaction she wanted. She stood up from the place she sat. "I do wonder though Ahsoka, what would Skywalker do if Maul just happened to find out who Ri-En was." Ahsoka's eyes shot open once again. "Perhaps that much danger to his padawan would reveal his true colors. Perhaps we will find out just how far over the line he's gone."

"You're wrong Taris," Ahsoka replied, "Anakin is not what you say he is and he will show you the power of the light, a power that the dark could never have."

"We shall see," Taris stated with deep set frown before leaving the dungeon. Her next plan would be executed with grace, her target this mission was now on Siri. She would be the piece Taris would use to set her plans in motion. The Jedi would be in disarray and she would please her master by causing their fall. She smiled as she knew her next move wouldn't make sense to Maul. She was reckless enough to not care how risky it was, she would destroy the Jedi from the inside out.

* * *

Anakin stood on a higher peak in the otherwise dense land he had found himself in. He reached out with the force, inside wondering what he would do here if he didn't have the ability to touch the force. There was a darkness that tinged the force when he reached for it, fear that echoed through the life of this planet. The empire brought it's fear and Anakin knew he needed to move fast in order to find Ahsoka or the rebels. He reached in searching for any sign that his former apprentice could feel him on this planet. He could only feel that she was alive, everything else was cut off from him. With his luck she could have already been removed from the planet. He didn't have any choice but to press on despite this nagging thought in his mind.

He couldn't turn back now that he had no ship. The alliance wasn't going to be happy that he had crashed the fighter, he would have to get used to the fact that he was no longer operating under the endless resources of the republic but now within a rebellion where every ship counted. Still they had asked him to rescue his former apprentice, he hadn't seen any other way of getting through the blockade with his small fighter. He could practically hear the commanders lecture himself now. He smiled reminded of lectures from his old master. He wondered how how Obi-Wan was doing and how his reckless daughter was doing aboard the rebels space base. He was lucky that Kanan and Ezra had returned when they did, the younger Jedi was someone that Anakin had grown to trust quickly. He was a good fighter and he would keep Ri-En in line.

Now Anakin scanned the forest below him, searching for any signs of the rebels. He reached out for the force immersing himself in it, entering a state of meditation. He had learned much about patience on Abafar, he was patiently waiting here for the force to give him direction rather than charging into the jungle. He could sense the life of the planet, reaching in he saw the darkness he was sensing. Taris was here, some how she gave off an more potent darkness than before. It seems Sidious had been hard and work getting the little Sith stronger, Anakin reached out more searching for the rebels. He couldn't see them with all the life on the planet seeping into his senses.

He sighed wondering what to do next, how to even proceed on this planet when the force gave him a warning. Someone was sneaking to his location, he opened himself up pinpointing their location. The force signature the person gave off was muted but somehow it seemed familiar to Anakin, he stood up from where he was and turned to where the person was. He reached out in the force and sent himself flying through the air. He landed behind the figure with his lightsaber in hand. He turned it on next to the persons head.

"Who are you and why are you following me?" Anakin demanded from the man who stood in front of him now with his hands carefully positioned in the air. The man leapt ahead out of reach of Anakin's lightsaber, he was clearly force sensitive or not quite human. The man then leapt back at Anakin, whipping out a weapon. A snap hiss, a lightsaber whirled to life but it wasn't the red of the inquisitors, it was orange. Anakin blocked the man's blows and returned his own, his enemy kept up as they danced near the edge of the cliff. Anakin reached out with the force staying one step ahead of his opponent.

The style of fighting his enemy displayed was similar to one he had fought before. He was forced to block another series of skilled blows but he was gaining the upper hand. With the flick of his lightsaber he hit the man's hard enough to send it flying from his grasp. He held a hand up with the force and held his lightsaber at the ready in case the main tried to begin the fight again.

"Who are you!" Anakin demanded.

"Somehow I don't think we're enemies," the man's voice was one Anakin was sure he hadn't heard before. "You lightsaber isn't red." That statement reminded him of someone. It couldn't be but as he looked at the man's eyes it was more and more apparent. He never thought he'd see him again much less with a lightsaber. He hadn't thought of him since the day he had left the Jedi, somehow blaming Anakin for his own fate.

"I think you know who I am," the man responded, "because I could never forget someone like you. Especially since you were the face of the republic army during the clone wars. You were always a better solider than a Jedi, impulsive and rash." Anakin deactivated his lightsaber as it was apparent he wasn't face to face with an enemy.

"And you were always stuck up Ferus," Anakin stated dryly, "at least that's what I thought about you when we were kids." Ferus, Siri's padawan. Anakin remembered every detail of how he left the Jedi order. How Anakin himself had refused to step in and help, and how a fellow padawan had died all because their rivalry reached it's head. The mistakes he had made on that mission had led to many dark moments for him. Obi-Wan hadn't known the argument that caused Ferus to leave and for Tru to never speak to Anakin again but Anakin was sure he knew something had happened. He couldn't believe after all this time that Ferus was back in front of him, this time as an ally he would have to trust.

"What's past is past," Ferus said as he looked out over the jungle. "There are few Jedi left in the world it wouldn't be good if we couldn't see eye to eye in some way. We're both here to help the planet, we both want to stop the empire." Anakin nodded.

"If your here does that mean you've met up with your old master again?" Anakin asked. Ferus reached out in the force and took hold of his lightsaber.

"The empire has been relentlessly hunting not only and remaining Jedi but any force users or those with force potential," Ferus began, "I was being hunted by the empire when Siri found me. It didn't matter that I wasn't a Jedi anymore, so I thought why not continue to train. The least I could do is actually help the rebellion."

"Well the rebellion does need as much help as it can get," Anakin said as he walked back toward the cliff, he still needed to get a good sense of where the rebels could hide.

"What about you?" Ferus asked, "what have you been doing for the past few years? Last I heard Siri and Obi-Wan had been searching everywhere in the galaxy for you. Siri said she thought you were back with the rebellion but no one knows anything about where you've been all these years." Anakin scanned the forest, he didn't really want to discuss his exile with his childhood rival. He remembered how Ferus seemed to be able to see the thoughts in Anakin's head when they were kids, he always knew when Anakin was about to do something rash or disobey his master. He saw the darkness in Anakin before Anakin saw it in himself, he had been right all along.

"The Jedi made many mistakes in the clone wars," Anakin replied wondering what he should say. "We lost everything. After the fall of the order I was on the run from the empire. I crashed down on Abafar, there just didn't seem to be much of a point of continuing to fight so I stayed there waiting for the force to give me some direction." Anakin paused. He wondered now what the force was trying to tell him, it surely had it's reasons for putting them both on this planet but he resolved himself to try and forget the past. With Ferus as an ally it might be a good time to let go of the disagreements between them. "I would still be on that planet, but the force finally gave me direction. Obi-Wan and Siri's daughter somehow found me and I knew it was time to be a part of the galaxy again."

It wasn't as simple as he was saying, but he knew he couldn't speak of the many things within himself. He was serving penance now, trying to make up for all the bad he did. He couldn't change the past but he could make the future better. He worried though, would the fire within himself come back and destroy everything he cared about again? His only answer was to be detached from everything and everyone.

"I wouldn't have expected that," Ferus said and Anakin narrowed his eyes looking at him almost like they were just boys again. "I mean, I just would have expected you immediately join the fight against the empire."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Anakin couldn't stop the question from coming out of his mouth. He had to view Ferus as a friend not a foe. That was never good for either of them.

"I just mean that running is more of something I would do," Ferus spoke raising his hands in a friendly gesture. "You always brushed off your mistakes and got back up. I abandoned the order the moment I made a mistake, that's something I've had to live with." Anakin knew that was nothing, he knew nothing of living with guilt. One padawan's death was nothing to the hundreds that weighed on Anakin's conscious. He had enabled the Empires formation. Anakin didn't want to speak of this subject anymore. If Ferus was as observant as before he might actually stumble onto what Anakin was hiding.

"So is Siri here?" Anakin questioned.

"She is," Ferus responded taking the hint to get off the previous conversation. "We split up in an effort to find the rebels. She was heading to the city to look for signs of them."

"I've been trying to find them as well," Anakin responded. "The rebelllion sent me to check on the state here and to find Ahsoka Tano. She was my padawan in the clone wars." He felt like he would need to fill Ferus on anything he missed that happened within the order after Ferus had left. Anakin looked toward the city remembering the time he spent on Onderon during the clone wars. If he was right, then the rebels would have to be hiding in the jungle. That is where they had hidden before, they knew the terrain better than the imperials, it made sense to hide in territory the imperials could find. Perhaps they kept a similar place to when he had been here back then, Lux was involved with the rebellion here and maybe he had left Anakin or the rebellion some hint as to where he would go. This wasn't a group extraction mission like on Naboo, he was only here for Ahsoka. Finding the rebels could lead him to Ahsoka but it could place a greater burden on his mission.

"The capital city is where the Sith have made their base," Anakin stated taking a seat again and making a map of the terrain in his head, "but I think the rebels are out here." Ferus nodded, Anakin could see it from the corner of his eye. Anakin could also feel that Ferus had a lot of questions for him but he held them back for now which was probably for the best.

"I searched that side of the jungle earlier today." He pointed behind them, "They're not over there." Anakin nodded, he was beginning to recognize some of the areas of the jungle. Maybe he could find them by memory.

"I've been to this planet before," Anakin stated, "I think I can find them."

"Clone wars?" Ferus questioned. Anakin nodded. He often was amazed when remembering the many battles he had been in, he visited most of the planets in the republic during his time in the wars. There were very few places he hadn't been now. It was always a goal of his to see the whole galaxy, he never thought that it was war that would bring him to that goal. And now he was right in the big middle of another war in the galaxy, one of his own making.

"We best be getting a move on," Anakin stated putting away thoughts of the past. He couldn't help it, running into an old acquaintance tended to display the past front and center on his mind. "We've got a lot of jungle to search and not a lot of time. The empire is looking for the rebels as well."

"Like you said, you know the planet better than I. Lead the way," Ferus responded gesturing to the taller jedi. How the tables had turned between them and Anakin began to wonder of maybe they could be friends after all that had happened. Maybe he was learning to put the past behind him and maybe there was hope to defeat the dark within. Somehow he still doubted it.

* * *

Siri drew her cloak closer to herself as she walked through the streets, the people here were allowed to move about semi-freely as the empire troops held control of the city. Getting in wasn't easy, she had found accesses were all blocked but she wasn't going to be held back by that. She had made it in, and she knew that she would be hard pressed to find information. Perhaps merely looking wasn't the way to go, she reached out with the force and listened, she had shields up because she knew she had too, Taris was near.

The girl was a dangerous enemy, and day by day she grew stronger. Sidious had wasted no time in getting his apprentice to a strong position within the military and that strong position was not rewarded lightly. Taris possessed a strong strategic mind and a relentless determination that made her very dangerous. These traits without her Sith training were enough to make Siri wary. The girl possessed such a strong hatred of the jedi that Siri could feel it tangibly in the air around her, like a poisonous fume meant to suffocate her. Perhaps that was exactly what it was. Such hatred was completely out of Siri's depth. How had a girl so young developed such a strength in it? What had Sidious done to her? These were questions that she couldn't avoid asking herself, and she felt it was vital to unravel the mystery of the girl. How was the young sith formed? How did he find someone so strong in the force?

She felt the force was leading her to these questions, to these thoughts. The force sought to tell her something more about what was going on in the galaxy than just the struggle between the rebels and the empire. The force was lashing out against it's current darkened state and at the center of it were the remaining jedi and the two Sith. There were other force users all over the galaxy, but it was these two orders that constantly fought to shape the world around them. Somehow it felt like the Sith were about to gain the upper hand, to destroy the remaining Jedi. Taris was the key to everything, Sidious had not wasted anything in finding someone perfect for what he needed her for. She was not to be underestimated.

There was a shift in the winds and perhaps a shift in the world she was on now. She watched the guard patrols from her position, she watched and waited for them to speak. She listened to their words trying to track on what they were saying. She realized now that she had walked into something more, she could sense it. Taris knew she was here, and somehow the girl had already set a plan in motion. If she could just figure out what it was.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an explosion. There was shouting and her instincts told her to run away from it but she knew that this could be the rebels striking back. She ran towards the sound as most people ran way. She entered a city center and was in awe of what she saw. One of the empires walkers had been taken out and there were lines of rebel fighters firing on their enemies. There was no sign of the Sith lady nor any inquisitors, just storm troopers vs rebels. Without thinking she leapt into the air onto an incoming scout walker. She ignited her lightsaber and dug it into the walker carving a hole into it and dropping a bomb before leaping off. She quickly used the force to send it toppling into a group of storm troopers as it exploded.

"It's a jedi!" she heard the troops yell. She then turned to block blaster fire from the enemy who were now more interested in her than the rebels.

"Keep moving forward!" She heard one of the rebels shout, he must be a commander. She saw how organized and well armed the troops were as they moved closer and closer to the castle.

Siri dispatched a couple more troops before rushing toward the castle, wondering what the troops were trying to get too. She saw a couple of them fearlessly running toward the gate which had been blasted open. She could feel danger in the force, more imperial troops were surely coming, they could defeat this group but there was no way they could handle the might of the empire coming down on them.

She then saw one of the rebels who had been shouting commands running in her direction and firing on the enemies around her as he did. She blocked a blast that was aimed at him as he crouched down behind cover. He had a determination in his eyes, like there was something beyond that he was after. More rebels were streaming into the castle. She wondered what this strike was for and if the rebel group even planned on escaping.

It was then that there was an explosion at the castle. Someone was running down the steps, and from her point Siri could see it was Ahsoka, white lightsabers blazing. She was moving slower as if she was hurting. Siri jumped away from the troops that were around her using the force to move quickly toward Ahsoka as she saw someone coming after the girl. Black robes and dark hair swirled. Taris.

Siri was moving quickly as Taris reached Ahsoka, red lightsaber blazing. She swiped at the torgruta who was moving with urgency now. The rebel troops around them were beginning to withdraw. Siri reached Ahsoka and leapt forward engaging Taris. She blocked Taris's moves as the Sith drove her back. Ahsoka was taking a moment to rest and join the rebels as they defended their friends who were fleeing.

"Tachi," Taris said with a smile, "what a surprise to find you on such a strange planet."

"We're not about to let you destroy what's left of us," Siri spat twisting Taris's lightsaber around and gaining the offensive. She was now driving Taris back. Siri was many things and her skill with a lightsaber was considerable. Taris knew that this wasn't a fight she was going to win, not yet. She just needed to gain the offensive back. She did, her skills were sharp and her youth gave her back the advantage. That was when she saw Ahsoka coming towards them. She reached and pushed Siri back with the force but the older Jedi barely faltered as she got up fast and rushed on Taris.

"Siri!" she heard Ahsoka's voice, "we've got to get out of here!" Siri glanced and saw the rebels had almost finished dispersing. She looked at Ahsoka and they moved together throwing Taris back with the force and running.

They rushed into the city, fighting through scattered imperial troops that were trying to stop the rebels. But the city was large and Siri realized the escape plan wasn't about getting out, but about hiding within the city. She followed as Ahsoka too the lead with renewed energy as they entered a more crowded town square and Ahsoka veered into an alley. Siri saw that some of the rebels were within the ally and Ahsoka ran to one of them. The torgruta embraced the man a gesture that made them seem a little more than friends.

"What in the galaxy is going on here?" Siri asked them.

"This is Lux Bonteri, my contact on this world," Ahsoka said gesturing to Siri before turning back to Lux. "Lux this is Siri Tachi a knight from the Jedi order. One of the last remaining Jedi." Lux held a hand out to meet Siri and she took it.

"It's nice to meet a Jedi again," Lux stated. "The Jedi helped my home world during the clone wars. It seems we're going to need your help again with what has happened here." Siri didn't doubt that the empire was right to crack down on this world for helping the rebels. She wasn't sure that they could be of much help in this situation.

"We've got to get out of here," Ahsoka spoke to them now.

"How exactly are we going to get out of here?" Siri asked. Ahsoka smiled and walked to the side of the alley and bent down to lift one of the stones from the ground. Siri could see it led down somewhere.

"These tunnels run under the city and into the jungle," Ahsoka responded, "Lux and the rebels have been hard at work creating them all over the city the past 15 years. No one that isn't in the rebellion knows what is here. He always knew something like this could happen, since supplying the rebellion is dangerous." Well that kind of made sense.

"Why were you even striking the empire at this time?" Siri asked, confused about what the point of that strike was. Sure they took out some troops but that was barely a dent in what the empire had sent.

"I was captured by Taris upon the enemy's invasion," Ahsoka stated as Lux jumped into the tunnel. Ahsoka gestured for Siri to follow and she did. These tunnels were lined with brick and stone, they appeared to be sturdy. Ahsoka drooped down followed by a couple more of the rebels with the group. Lux walked at the head of the group leading the way through the tunnels.

"This operation was to free Ahsoka," Lux spoke as he led the way, "and good timing, your help was appreciated." Siri smiled, she had succeeded in finding the rebels and now she was headed to their camp. She wondered if that escape wasn't too easy. Taris seemed to be holding back someone. There was an uneasiness in the air, a disturbance in the force weighing down on her. Something was about to happen outside of her control.

* * *

Steps, she paced back and forth. She stood strong, she did whatever she could to appear in control after all she was. Her garrison had reported loosing the rebels in the streets of the city, they had entered in without resistance and sprung their attack on the castle. If she hadn't gotten the outcome she wanted she would have been more upset. They hadn't found the way the rebels had gotten in nor the way they had escaped. She would have to use more force than she had at this point but she knew she also needed to wait for the opportune moment.

"Your failure will not be such a good mark on your record," Maul sneered as she continued to pace. It was only a matter of time until she got what she wanted and she could be rid of him as well as the pesky jedi. She would just have to bide her time.

"You assume my plans were to destroy the rebels in that little skirmish," Taris responded, "out the opposite I assure you. I have the rebellion on this planet right where I want it, we're closing in. Now just to tighten our grip." She smirked, Ahsoka carried within her enough doubt to tear the Jedi apart. Her plan was in motion and Skywalker was in the planet, she could feel it. They were connected, both touched by Sidious and both able to wield the darkside. She knew what came next would bring destruction on her enemies, she just needed to be patient. And patience was something she had a handle on.

* * *

 **So sorry again about the long wait for this chapter. I really need to update more and write more in general. I am so excited about this arch. Many of you have been asking about Taris, I wanted to let you know that this is her arch more than anyone else's. We're going to see her advance in her Sith training as well as in her identity.**

 **So please leave a REVIEW and let me know what you think of this chapter. Hopefully I will get the next chapter up this week. Thank you readers!  
**

 **A Winter Chill**


	22. The Fire of Onderon: Taris's Deception

**The Fire of Onderon: Taris's Deception**

* * *

Tap, tap, tap, tap. Taris hated the sound of rain, on this jungle planet it seemed to be a common thing, but she seemed to hate everything normal people felt was beautiful. She still remembered the day her master had sent her to the imperial academy to learn how to interact with other beings that were not Sith. She had been horrible at it then, she didn't understand why the people acted the way they did. Now she was a master at it, she could easily communicate with her generals and all who were on the imperial center. All that training and she didn't know what to do about Maul. He was ready to charge against the rebels now. He had discovered a lead on how they were moving in and out of the city and Taris had told him to move a large amount of troops to an area of the jungle he didn't understand yet. She knew exactly what she was doing but she wasn't about to reveal it to him.

She now stood at the landing platform awaiting the next piece in her intricate puzzle. She watched as Jay Carras shuttle touched down on the landing pad. She waiting in the shade as the rain was follow vigorously. It reminded her of the sandstorm on Abafar, how easily nature could change things within her operations. She wondered how else nature could effect her life. She was taught as a Sith she could control everything, that she could have ultimate power but she was not the force and she could not master the nature of a planet. She often wondered of that was what her powers would lead to, she wondered if she would even become powerful enough to face off with her own master. He had hidden much from her but within the holocrons she studied she saw a pattern with Sith. They would always turn on each other, and one would always be destroyed. She wondered if her master secretly held back information from her to keep her weaker, but that wouldn't work with his constant prodding. He was pushing her to be stronger, and she wondered if she would ever break the barrier and learn to use her hatred.

She watched as the shuttle engines shut off and her mind turned to her enemies. She had time to execute her plans but it made her nervous knowing that Skywalker would eventually come to face them again. She knew that Maul would be the perfect distraction but what if Anakin didn't take the bait? What if he saw through her plans? After all Skywalker was not only a Jedi but a war veteran, he had faced her master before and deep down she knew that somehow he knew the dark. Somehow he had made the decision to cross the line and somehow he had come back from it. The thought killed her inside, something prodded her on, she needed the truth. She also recognized that the thing that kept pushing her to know more was the force, it was constantly pushing her to know more and more. Perhaps after this she would search and find what really happened to the republic's great hero.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the shuttle opened and Jay Carras appeared at the top of the ramp. She stayed where she was as he was beneath her and it was his position to approach her. As he came up to her she silently turned toward the door, it was a noisy storm around them and it would do better to speak where there was some silence. She also wanted to be away from wherever Maul was now, so she kept walking until she reached one of the rooms deeper in the castle. She had never actually occupied a castle on a planet before this one, so she had mapped out the entire thing in her mind. The room she had picked had several chairs and a large window with a nice view of the jungles beyond.

"I assume the fleet briefed you on the current situation on this planet," Taris stated as she took a seat and gestured that Jay do so as well. Jay was used to Taris being so straight to business, she was always like that on Mustafar. She had no time for pleasantries.

"They have," Jay replied, "The main cities are all taken, yet the rebels have fled into the forests. They seem to be moving into town easily as well, there was a prisoner escape and the rebels disappeared like dust. The Admiral above believes we should just bomb the jungles and be done with it." Taris shook her head.

"He is a fool," She stated, "Bomb the jungles as the people of this planet who have complied with us will become rebels, and the planet would be destroyed. The resources this planet produces are valuable to this sectors Imperial outposts. The Emperor instructed me to take out the rebellion without destroying the planet. I have patrols in the jungle, with time I will find those rebels, the problem is I don't have time and the rebels have outside help."

"The Jedi," Jay replied. Taris looked out the window before them, the winds of the planet whistled through the jungle, and the rains caused a fog to surround what was out there. Besides having the Jedi the rebels knew this planet and she did not. This skirmish couldn't last much longer, she had generals asking the emperor for her help around the galaxy. Somehow her reputation had not be soiled by the business on Abafar, few knew what actually happened on the planet.

"Ahsoka was caught here on the planet," Taris stated, "and Siri Tachi has been sighted here as well. Besides that I believe Skywalker and his padawan are present." Jay's face changed in a strange way, she took notice and wondered why. His eyes seemed distant. "I believe you can help me with Ri-En Kenobi, while Ahsoka I have dealt with, my goal is to pit Maul against Skywalker while I take our Siri. Together we could end this Jedi infestation before it takes root." Jay shook his head.

"Ri-En beat me on Naboo, I'm not sure I have much of a chance of stopping her with my present level of training," Jay replied honestly, "Skywalker is her master, it makes everything more difficult. He was the most powerful Jedi in the order." Taris was unfazed.

"And the order fell."

"The ones that remain are not to be underestimated," Jay replied, he felt like he could speak to her like a peer despite the status she had over him. They had stood together and faced Mustafar, the hardest time in his life she had helped him through. She was not the same girl she had been then, the Sith ways had taken hold and the sorrow she had then was now buried in hatred. He wondered if that hatred could ever be directed at himself. He wondered and hoped it would never be.

"I don't underestimate them," She replied remembering back to the battles they had faced. "I called you because I judged their numbers and determined we needed someone else."

"I'm not what you need Taris," Jay said the obvious, "I am not good enough, I work in the shadows not directly against our enemy." Her face softened and he almost saw a glimpse of the girl who she buried so deep.

"You may not be what I need, others could do this better," she seemed lost in thought, "but you are enough to do what I require." She paused before saying the rest of the words she had within, "and I trust you more than the others. Each inquisitor wants to be the Sith apprentice, and they envy me for the standing I have required. None of that exists in you, that is more valuable than any lightsaber skills. I can teach you those, I can't teach you trust." He understood what she was saying. Darth Taris was the strangest of her ranks, he often felt that neither of them belonged. Perhaps someday they would find the reason their lives went so sour, but that was not to be anytime soon. For now they would fight to bring peace to the galaxy, for that was all they had.

* * *

Anakin sighed, rain was not what they needed right now. He was trying to find anything familiar about the planet and the rain made it increasingly difficult to tell which way they were going. It didn't help that Ferus seemed to have plenty of questions. He was reminded of how his own padawan trudged into the wilderness on Naboo with no idea of where she was going to end up. He on the other hand was pretty sure he was heading in the right direction, yet he wasn't sure if they could keep going if visibility got much worse in the area. He was glad he had his Jedi cloak to keep him dry, but the sticky hot air was getting annoying.

"We're going in circles," his companion complained as Anakin trudged through the ever increasing mud. Ferus had already stated the same thing twice. In the jungle things had a tendency to look the same, yet Anakin was sure he was actually moving forward and not looping around.

"It's the fog," Anakin simply responded, he was not in the mood for much else. He especially didn't want to get into a fight with Ferus when he was sure that they might be able to actually pull off being allies this time. After all Anakin knew Ferus had been completely right about him in the past. His own arrogance had brought down the entire order and that was something he couldn't even truly admit to those who loved him much less than to the one guy in the war who did not like him one bit.

"I don't mean to be annoying but I am concerned that we are going nowhere," Ferus basically stated the same sentiment his other statement had made clear. Anakin ignored him as he pushed on, keeping his pace steady and forward. He felt it in the force, he was going the right way. The voice he had submitted his life too on Abafar was still leading him, no matter how unworthy he felt the force had not abandoned him.

"I promise you we are moving in the right direction," Anakin found the patience to say, "and I I am wrong you can tell me so later." The silence returned as Ferus stopped walking, Anakin had it in his head to ignore what Ferus was doing but he felt in the force a danger. That was not to be ignored. He turned and looked at his companion ad Ferus was stretching out in the force to figure out what was beyond them, Anakin however already knew what it was.

"Storm troopers," Anakin said quietly taking his lightsaber into his hand.

"No," Ferus said in a hushed tone, "we attack them now and more come to this location, we have time to hide." Anakin rolled his eyes, Ferus had not changed one bit. Anakin shrunk back and followed the older man to a position he wasn't sure was going to help them avoid the oncoming troops but it was best not to argue. He moved so that he could see the troops pass, they were scanning the area. He reached out with the force, and wrapped it around where they hid. It was enough and he knew it. He watched the storm troopers, some at the lead were making sweeping movements side to side. With a jungle so filled with life it was clear that finding the rebels wasn't easy. But they Empire had spent a lot of time doing this, Anakin began to wonder why the Empire hadn't found them yet.

He stiffened as the group got closer to the hiding place but he felt no danger in the force. He could feel his companion's nervousness but he kept staring forward, waiting for the group to depart. Eventually they did, but Anakin and Ferus did not move for a great while, until it was certain that the storm troopers were not doubling back.

"They're pretty deep into the jungle for a routine sweep," Anakin spoke his thoughts out loud.

"I'm thinking the empire has no leads on where the rebels are hiding," Ferus stated with a sigh, "that means it's going to be even harder for us to find them. We don't have numbers to send sweeping through the jungle or communications."

"But we have the force," Anakin said as his mind kept working, there was something he was missing. The rain around them ceased, it was a bit sudden. He crouched on the ground stretching out with the force. He was looking for it, the force around him was trying to tell him something. He reached out and as he felt like he was about to touch what it was he was searching for a presence filled his senses. He stood up quickly as he felt the hot searing of fear.

"Ri-En!" He exclaimed as he saw a flash of her in his head. Suddenly her presence was muted as if she wasn't really on the planet. He then saw Ahsoka, something was happening. He stepped back and reached out for a location.

"What's going on?" Ferus questioned. Anakin shook his head and turned to walk quickly into the jungle. He knew where the rebels were.

"I know where the rebels are," he stated as he walked on. His head was spinning as he wondered if he really saw what he the truth or a manifestation of what he dreaded. If it was true, Ri-En wasn't breaking from her pattern of rushing into the fray of danger. If she was on the planet he would have to find her fast.

* * *

The way back to the jungle hideaway was much shorter than Siri had expected. Part of the walk was through rain, which made it difficult to see but they pressed on toward the base. Siri was glad it was close but it was a wonder the enemy had not found it, yet the darkness of the jungle she began to realize why it was perfect. The jungle got thick and damp as they walked deeper into it and until she was told to start climbing she would never have guessed that they had made their home high in the trees. Ahsoka had told her the rebels had started building this hideout when the empire had first began. They had years to prepare for this day.

Siri realized now that while many rebellions around the galaxy had only begun, there were some places like Onderon where the rebels had been biding there time. It was a pretty difficult climb to reach the ladder that was camouflaged into the side of one the trees. Once she had scaled the ladder she found herself in awe. There were homes in many of the trees and bridges leading to them. At first glance everything was well camouflaged, at second she could see everything. What the rebels had done was truly outstanding. She was in awe of everything she saw, and she wondered what it had taken to build this.

"Welcome to our encampment," Ahsoka said with a smile as she watched Siri's scan the base with amazement in her eyes.

"Now this is the most impressive rebel base I have ever seen," Siri said shaking her head, "it makes sense why Taris is having so much trouble finding you." Ahsoka nodded as a group of natives approached them. Ahsoka greeted them with excitement and hugged each one. More groups stopped them as Lux led them through the village.

"That's where we keep our supplies," Lux pointed to an area with a group of structures. "And that is where you will both be staying while you are here." He pointed to another home across the trees. Siri then was hit with the dilemma of when they were going to inevitably have to leave this planet. Staying here they would be safe, but getting off the planet could prove extremely difficult with Taris and the blockade on constant lookout. Then there was the force warning nagging her.

"Where are we headed?" she asked Ahsoka.

"To find some food," Ahsoka replied, "then the leaders of this cell want to meet. There have been an increasing number of patrols in the jungle. Then there is the issue of whether or not to leave the planet or stay. Things were calm after Saw Guerra moved his militants else where but with the Imperials prescence things may become tense again." If Siri was a native she knew it would be hard to leave and with a place like this almost impossible. Yet she knew what it meant to make the hard choice, to walk away when she needed to. She had walked out on her own child.

"I have a question I need to ask you," Siri began, "is Ri-En okay?" Siri stated it that way because of the disturbance she had felt before regarding her daughter. She didn't know what to think, or really what to do about everything that had happened.

"She's been doing quite well lately," Ahsoka spoke with some hesitation before deciding to give Siri a little more info on what happened. "She's more insightful than I gave her credit for. Had I not been trying to reign her in I might have seen that there was a lot more in her head and in her actions than I had thought before."

"What are you talking about?" Siri asked with an evident confusion on her face. Ahsoka laughed.

"If we all get off this planet I think you'll understand," Ahsoka said with a smile. She kept her answer cryptic, she knew the rebels were still doing their best to keep their new "hero with no fear" on the down low. The more people that knew the more likely his location could fall into the empires hands.

"But she is okay?" Siri questioned again.

"She is," Ahsoka replied, "Sometimes I'm not sure if okay is enough, she's never fully let go of hoping you and Obi-Wan were coming back." Siri's eyes fell at the mention of Obi-Wan, she had no leads on where he was. All she knew was that he was still alive. She saw Ahsoka preparing to ask her about the Jedi Master, and Siri wished she could find him.

"Obi-Wan was captured by the empire," Siri said softly, sadly, "it happened a few years ago. I haven't seen him since." Ahsoka was taken aback by it, why would the empire capture a Jedi? The orders she had seen were to kill her. Yet they had captured Obi-Wan, and closer to home Taris had taken Ri-En instead of killing her when she had the chance. Something was off and Ahsoka knew they had to find out what.

"Why would they just capture him?" Ahsoka questioned.

"There is more too it," Siri replied, "but I haven't fully figured it out."

"Well in any case I'm glad you're back," Ahsoka replied, "and I am sure Ri-En will be to." Siri looked at the torgruta, wondering how Ri-En would react to seeing her.

"Don't tell her what happened to Obi-Wan," Siri stated, "I haven't' planned on telling her, because I would much rather her not be worried for him. It's better for everyone if we keep people from fearing the worst."

"That's for the best in Ri-En's case," Ahsoka said while shaking her head, "she might do something rash if she knew."

"So she is more like me after all," Siri spoke with a smile. "When she was a child I thought for sure she'd take after Obi-Wan." She laughed a little. "I guess you can never know what will happen with a child." It was true, none of them had any way of knowing where their lives had led. There had been so many paths before them. Perhaps in another life, another galaxy things weren't as rosy as they seemed now. Perhaps there was a life where they would be better. The paths twisted before them and Siri could feel hers with a strength she hadn't felt it her whole life.

"She's still changing," Ahsoka stated, "after all the galaxy around us is in shift. Every day the rebellion is growing. Sidious has not had time to train his new Sith, I believe if we have a chance soon we must take it. It's a hard life for a child to grow up with, and a tough galaxy for anyone to face. Our experiences mold us, and are still molding each of us. I hope in the end that Ri-End doesn't harden herself to the joy that can be found in life." Ashoka thought about Anakin, how different he was after all those years in hiding. There was a depth of pain that she didn't understand, a haunted look in his eyes that he couldn't out run. Whatever he had faced when it all fell apart, he wouldn't let on other than those hints she saw. Something had changed him beyond what she could perceive. Perhaps she would never know.

As they walked on there was very little more to be said. They found food and sat discussing things of the past, things of the future. They discussed what remained of the Jedi, thoughts of what they should do going forward. Siri believed strongly the Jedi should be searching for force sensitive children before the Sith found them, and training those children. Ahsoka was more inclined to just shelter the children to safety and let them decide as they grow. Siri understood why the Torguta wasn't inclined to being again as the Jedi were before but it was Siri's whole existence. She wondered if they would succeed in starting again, for it seemed so far away.

As they talked Siri began to notice the color in Ahsoka's face changing. She was still speaking, but she seemed to be fighting through some soft of pain. Siri ignored it at first since she knew that they had just rescued Ashoka from Taris's clutches but as it continued Siri had the feeling that something more was off. She couldn't shake the feeling that Taris had played them. They finished their meal and walked on, Ashoka was looking weaker than she had before.

"Are you alright Ashoka?" Siri asked her.

"I'm fine," She responded quickly, too quickly. Siri then noticed the rhythm of her breathing changing. Then suddenly Ashoka collapsed.

* * *

Anakin moved swiftly through the jungle, as he wondered exactly what the danger he sensed was. He didn't want to slow down for one moment, his decision to move quickly was crucial. That danger surrounded Ashoka, and it was potent enough that he knew it could mean a great many things. The landscape was similar everywhere he turned. He only had the force to guide him as he waved through the trees and toward the hills.

"Slow down!" Ferus asked as Anakin weaved through trees, his companion had trouble keeping up. Anakin shoved aside the small satisfaction that out running his former rival brought up in him. They were no longer children, and he wouldn't behave childishly but as he watched Ferus he knew the boy still was wary of him. Ferus always saw his faults, and Anakin knew that there was a lot more that might become apparent. He wasn't going to reveal his darkest secrets to Ferus of all people.

"There isn't time," Anakin shouted back as he rushed into the trees to the place he had seen when he reached out with the force. They were getting closer. He didn't break his stride for one second. He couldn't slow with the weight of the danger he felt weighing down on him. He had pushed down any thoughts of what might be wrong, focusing singularly on reaching his destination. Ferus asked him to slow down a few more times but he didn't. He didn't break his stride until he reached the place he was fighting to get to. He stopped and paced around the trees, his eyes searching upward for an entrance. As he was looking he heard the footsteps of Ferus who had finally caught up to him. Ferus hunched over clearly a little winded from the long run though the woods. Anakin glanced at him but continued to look up.

"What are you even looking for," Ferus asked between breaths.

"The rebels have made their base within the trees," Anakin replied his eyes darting as he paced around searching still. "This is the area that I saw as I searched through the force. We have to find a good one to climb and hope they don't shoot us on sight."

"Great plan," Ferus said throwing his hands int he air. "I assume we deflect the shots and try to talk to someone."

"We'll be fine as long as we don't panic," Anakin then found what he was looking for, a tree with perfect branches. "Come over here." He waved Ferus over and pointed up at the tree he found. "Can you leap to that branch and follow me up or will I need to send someone down for you?" Anakin questioned. He needed to make sure his companion could keep up at this part. Ferus appraised it.

"I can get up there," Ferus replied, "but we'll need to move one by one, the branches don't look like they'll hold much weight."

"My thought's exactly," Anakin replied as he gathered the force around him and launched to the branch. He didn't even think to shout down as he worked on moving through the branches. He was amazed at how high the trees in this area of the jungle went and as he climbed on he saw through the leaves around him the structures that were contained within the trees.

He could see a walkway that he could reach, he didn't think he just went for it. He had to be precise to avoid hitting a tree branch but as he landed on the walkway he instantly surveyed his surroundings. Several of the rebels who saw him started shouting, and he lifted his hands as several blasters were pointed at him.

"Hands up," several yelled. He heard others shouting into comms about an intruder. He kept his hands up and didn't make any sudden moves until one stepped out of the group. He looked at Anakin and his eyes looked back to the group. There was recognition on his face as he looked back at Anakin. He stepped forward and waved his hands for his men to lower their weapons.

"Anakin Skywalker?" the man said. Anakin knew he had seen this guy before but he couldn't remember his name.

"Yes," Anakin replied, "I came looking for Ahsoka." He saw the man perceived that he didn't remember him.

"I'm Lux Bonteri," Anakin remembered that name, "I'm Ashoka's contact on Onderon. She came for a supply run with the empire decided to touch down." He saw Anakin's face, "you know all this." Anakin nodded, as he looked back to the tree to see Ferus reaching the perch Anakin was previously on.

"The rebels sent me to bring her back," Anakin replied quickly, "Is she okay?" Lux's eyes fell and that told Anakin that not everything was okay. Lux looked like he was about to respond when Ferus landed next to Anakin and the rebels instantly raised their guns. Lux waved them off since Anakin was clearly calm about this other arrival.

"A friend of yours?" Lux asked.

"Lux this is Ferus Olin," Anakin said, "he's a former Jedi padawan and ally to the rebellion."

"Ferus!" a female voice sounded through the crowd. As it parted Anakin saw here and knew instantly who she was. Siri Tachi had aged significantly since the last time he saw her but it was still clear who she was. She looked worried, as she walked through the group. Her eyes had landed on Anakin and stayed there, clearly she recognized who he was as well. Everyone seemed to easily remember him, which made sense since he wasn't exactly a low profile Jedi during the clone wars.

"Siri," Ferus greeted her, "so much for contacting me when you reached the rebels."

"It was a bit of a busy time," she said looking toward Ferus and then back to Anakin.

"And look what the bantha dragged in," she spoke with a bit of annoyance.

"Good to see you again too Siri," Anakin replied as he saw the many things she wanted to say but held back. It was the same as when Ahsoka had first encountered him, they were angry but he understood why. "Where is Ahsoka?" Lux and Siri exchanged looks, the worry evident.

"She was captured by Taris and Maul when the Imperials landed," Lux replied, "she was very brave. She actually chose to help get everyone who had helped the rebellion out of the city she could. We mounted an operation to rescue her using our superior knowledge of the city. The rescue went down smoothly with minimal losses."

"I ran into them in the city during the rescue. I should have known something was off," Siri interjected now but she paused to let Lux continue.

"It seems Taris outplayed us," Lux replied, "she poisoned Ahsoka, it's a slow acting one we know on this planet. We didn't notice until she collapsed earlier today. Taris knew this would happen, she is now guarding the source of the only cure for this poison." Anakin had discovered the source of the danger he sensed. Taris was trying to draw them out.

"Has any effort been made to go after it yet?" Anakin questioned.

"It is heavily guarded but we are discussing options," Lux responded, "come she would want to see you." Anakin nodded in agreement and fell into step with Lux as they walked through the base. Anakin found himself glancing about the setup and wondering why Taris had played them the way she did. Such a strategy was bold but it relied on a belief that the rebels would do anything to save Ahsoka. There was no way for Taris to know if that would happen.

"How long do we have to get the cure?" Anakin asked.

"4-7 more hours," Lux replied, "we have no real way to measure it. Ahsoka is strong but leaving such a thing to chance is not wise. We have a network watching every move made on this planet, Taris has the area so heavily guarded that any attempt to secure the cure could cause us to loose our entire force." Since the rebellion was still growing Anakin knew this was not an option that any rebel leaders would consider worth. It his mind was working on a plan when Lux stopped in front of one of the structures and opened the door for Anakin. He knew this must be where they were keeping Ahsoka. He stepped in and saw her laying on a cot in the room, there were a few people shuffling around. She turned to look at him as he walked him, he noticed the color had drained from her face. Her breathing was shallow and he had the sense that things were not going well for her.

"You came," she said, she coughed as she spoke. He didn't like seeing her like this, it wasn't right. Of all the things he thought he had been walking into, her loss was something he had never even considered. Ahsoka was a fighter, this wouldn't take her down.

"Don't cause yourself more pain Ahsoka," Lux said as he took a seat beside her bed. "You have to save your strength."

"You can't buy yourself more time with this one," she spoke. Anakin knew in this moment she would seek to put everyone else before her, the rebels on this planet were in dire need. There was no where left to run, and Taris was seeking to drag them into open confrontation. They couldn't keep hiding, all they could do was fight.

"Yeah but we do have enough time to save you," Anakin said kneeling beside her cot. "You're going to be fine." Ahsoka shook her head.

"There are more important things at stake than me," Ahsoka responded, "you have to get them out of here. Each person here has risked their life to keep the dream alive. My life isn't worth more than every single one in this place. I know you sky guy, you'd save the ones closest to you before you'd save the masses. That won't work this time. The cause we fight for is more important than any single life." He wouldn't buy it. There was no way he would just give up on her. He wouldn't give up on anything.

"I don't want you to worry about that," Anakin replied. "I was set here to save you, and I will save you and everyone else here. Trust me, and keep yourself alive, it's time to leave this place." He saw tears in the corner of her eyes at the words his spoke. He already had the plan formulated in his mind. They were all getting off the planet alive.

* * *

The sounds of the troops around her were normal to her. She smiled as she watched the sun getting lower each moment from the hill she stood on. The dark of the night would surely bring the movements of the rebels and she would crush them before they had a chance to escape with the cure for Ahsoka. She was certain this would be a victory over the rebels on Onderon and over the remaining Jedi. Her feats would surely bring her the approval that she craved from her master. She didn't know why but she could sense the strange Jedi from Abafar, she knew he was here. She also sensed that the rebels wouldn't just let Ahsoka die. This day would be a victory for her.

"Your strategy is bold Taris," she glared at Maul as he intruded upon her meditation. "Perhaps too bold. How do you know the rebels will fall for it?" Taris rolled her eyes.

"Because they are out of options," Taris responded turning toward the arrangement of her troops. They had walkers scattered around the encampment and as many troops as she could bring from the city posted not only around the site, but all over the surrounding hills. The rebels would have no chance of getting through. "They have nowhere left to run."

"That is what worries me," Maul replied, "desperation could bring our advantage, but caging certain animals brings out a danger that you may not foresee."

"I foresee we will have a victory," Taris stated with certainty. "I can feel that the Jedi will lose more than they bargained for. You'd do well not to question my judgement Maul, Sidious chose me over all others for a reason."

* * *

Jay didn't quite know what was driving him to continue beyond the Empire's lines into the forest, it would be much better to stay quite and wait with Taris and Maul for their enemies to show up. Even with that logical thought he had an inkling that there was something out there that he needed to find. The force led him now, which was strange since he had been taught to lead the force rather than to let it lead him. Lately he had trouble really knowing what was going on inside his own head.

What had changed life for him? Had he ever felt safe on Mustafar? Had he ever had a home? Was there anything before that place? Before the training he had been put through. These questions tried to run through his mind at all times, he suppressed it. He focused on the training he was given to let go of the thoughts in his mind. That training worked, some of the time. He wasn't good at letting go when curiosity took hold of him. That was way he was out here now.

Taris might have seen him leave, if she did she hadn't stopped him. His mission here was clear and she trusted him. He could not betray that trust but he knew he could not stop the voices in his head if he didn't know the answers to some of those questions. Where to get them was a mystery. He was raised to hate, yet none of it felt right.

Somehow he knew he had to find Ri-En again, and he didn't want the battle Taris seemed to think was necessary. He didn't know what to think about the way he had been taught to fight and the simple words he had been told by Ri-En. He knew what side he was on, but somehow sides didn't seem to matter in this moment. His loyalty was to Taris yet something in him was fighting that, begging him to take a risk and to get away from the Inquisitors once and for all. They had caused him nothing but grief, yet Taris had been kind to him which was unlike the Sith.

He knew something was wrong with him and he knew the head inquisitors saw it as well. They knew the thoughts in his head and they hated him for them. Doubt was enough to get any of them killed, yet he had been saved by Taris's timely arrival. He hoped he wouldn't have to go back there and perhaps if he succeeded at everything he was given to do he wouldn't have to.

If he succeeded Taris would undoubtedly keep him around. She might keep him around no matter what happened. She had spoken with such strong conviction about trust he knew she believed the words she had said. He had watched her change through the years, she had gotten callused and anger now coursed through her. He knew what Sidious was doing to her was what would make her into the Sith the empire needed her to be yet it felt wrong. As a child she had been filled with a goodness that no one else he knew possessed, and he believed it was Taris's goodness that kept him wary of his leaders.

He was piecing together what was going on his head, somehow he was coming to a realization of what Ri-En was to him. She reminded him of the way Taris had been before. Ri-En was facing tragedy being in the rebellion, she had a sadness in her eyes but beyond that she had something very few ever had. She had hope. She believed in something bigger than herself, somehow Jay found himself attracted to that belief.

Perhaps it was because he had never believed in anything. He had been taught as a young child that he fought for the protection of peace yet all he had seen contradicted that. They fought and destroyed so many to bring peace to the galaxy and all it accomplished was making more enemies. He never had much time nor will to comprehend it. What was happening In the galaxy was much beyond him.

He stopped his thoughts and his walking due to a sound he heard in the bushes. It could very easily be an animal but as he reached out in the force and felt a familiar presence. Odd that she should be familiar after knowing her for so short a time. His presence was blocked, he would get the jump on her easily. If he took Ri-En down before Taris enacted her plan then it would go of easier. He crept closer to what he felt, he didn't want to reveal his presence. As he moved he saw her, she was turned away from him and watching something in the distance. Now was as good a time as ever.

As he moved out of the bushes with his lightsaber drawn she suddenly turned. Her hands moved up fast and before he could react he was flying through the air, the massive wave of force energy was something he forgot about her. As he slammed into a tree he realized how badly he had miscalculated. He didn't even think of the inkling he had in his mind, how stupid he had been. For she obviously felt him as much as he felt her.

"You can't pull a fast one on me Jay Carras!" She declared drawing her lightsaber, "besides I've gotten stronger since our last encounter. She ignited her blade as he stood up from the ground he was on. His mind was moving quickly as he ignited his own crimson blade. He hadn't come out here looking for a fight, he didn't even know why he was out here. He knew it had to be a bad idea in his mind. Reason had left him, he should have waited for Taris's plan to come to fruition. How was he even planning on finding his way back.

"Things have changed since we were last stuck in a jungle together, though that wasn't long ago," Jay replied. She rolled her eyes, her features hardening but she held back. She was such the epitome of a Jedi, she wouldn't attack until he did so he waited. "Perhaps I'm nearer to the rebels than the others have gotten?"

"Nice try Jay," she said, "I'm not revealing anything to you." He didn't miss that each time she spoke to him she said his name. He smiled at that detail, he had her on edge that meant he still controlled this.

"Is your master nearby waiting to pounce?" he questioned, he didn't miss the way her eyes fell at the question, "because that would be the main way your getting out of this. You don't know how many troops I have just waiting for my signal to close in." The blatant lie would work, he knew it. She stepped back as if looking for a way out, he had said enough to unnerve her. "Of maybe your master is nowhere to be found. Perhaps you are alone out here, that's a pretty dangerous state to be in."

"What's dangerous Jay, is your shields slipping," she stated, "I know that your lying Jay. No one is coming for you just like you know no one is coming for me. This battle is between us now." He raised his eyebrows at how quickly she picked up on that and how quickly he could feel the truth in her words.

"Maybe it's not my shields," he replied, "something drew us here." She tensed.

"Well then I'd best be on my way since I would rather not be drawn into your presence!" she said forcefully as she took a step back. She was obviously a little reluctant to leave. She then took an air of bravery, turned off her lightsaber and turned her back on him to continue going wherever she was headed when he found her. He sighed as he knew what he had to do. He lunged forward with his lightsaber and she turned quickly to meet his attack. He countered with assurance as she met each move, she was quick but he was driving her back. He admired the way she moved with him, neither of them the most powerful duelists but both had an assurance to each move. She moved fast gaining an offensive and loosing it within a few steps. She fell into a natural pattern and he found himself wondering her thoughts.

He knocked her back with strength in a strong movement, she used the force to steady herself and leap away from his onslaught. She had fire in her eyes as she watched each move he made. He moved in again, and he knew she was completely ready for him. He tried to increase the speed of his movements, he wanted to win this but she kept up with him. Obviously she had been working since he last saw her. She caught the offensive again succeeding at pushing him with the force. He mimicked her move earlier, using the force to catch himself but. instead of waiting he launched back onto the offensive.

As they fought, and as he drove her back he realized their surroundings were changing. They were entering a different area of the forest. She leaped away from him trying to get away from his onslaught, he didn't think he could unnerve her but he realized she was battling some kind of war inside. He took his opportunity to catch her but she was on guard as she jumped back at him. Their lightsabers collided and they both moved their hands fast. He wanted to win this. She drove him back now, and he pushed to get ahead again. This battle was as Taris had predicted, they would be nearly evenly matched. Both were young and neither really knew their fully potential but as she moved he got the feeling that it wouldn't take long for her to be ahead of him. For some reason that thought didn't upset him. Ri-En was everything he was not, and for some reason he didn't resent that.

He noticed she was tiring but so was he, they were both pushing at each other with fire and force. Jay got his offensive back as he noticed they were nearing the edge of a cliff. Ri-En leaped moving away from the cliff around them. He could hear the sound of water below which meant there wasn't much danger. He could also hear that the drop wasn't too bad. He tried to push her back towards it She read what he was doing and worked to avoid it but they had both expended a lot of energy. She forced herself forward reaching out and tossing him with the force.

He flew back and got back up, next thing he knew the ground was shaking. He looked toward the jungle and realized the cliff they were fighting on was giving way.

* * *

 **Hello my faithful and new readers!**

 **Merry Christmas (I'm a bit late but better late than never)!**

 **I have been working on this chapter for awhile. I've been derailed by work, and I have gotten sick like 4 times since the last time I posted. It's been crazy but vacation gave me the perfect chance to finish this.**

 **Please leave a review to let me know what you think! I've missed hearing from y'all!**

 **-AWinterChill**


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